According to a 2008 estimate, the family contained 99 species previously distributed among 12 genera.

[1] More recent data from molecular phylogenetic reconstruction showed that members of the genus Parapterulicium are unrelated to Pterulaceae and also polyphyletic.

A new genus Baltazaria was created and both genera were moved to Russulales, to families Lachnocladiaceae and Peniophoraceae respectively.

[2] A major reappraisal of Pterulaceae was recently published by Leal-Dutra et al.,[3] creating the new genus Myrmecopterula, to encompass those species cultivated by Apterostigma ants in the neotropics,[4] and resurrecting the genus Phaeopterula to accommodate species with darker basidiomes.

Additionally, the genera Aphanobasidium, Radulomyces and Radulotubus were removed to a new family, Radulomycetaceae.