The Stenophlebiidae is an extinct family of medium-sized to large fossil odonates from the Upper Jurassic and Cretaceous period that belongs to the damsel-dragonfly grade ("anisozygopteres") within the stem group of Anisoptera.

[3] And they share these four synapomorphies with Prostenophlebiidae and Liassostenophlebiidae in the suborder Stenophlebioptera: (1) nodal crossvein Cr very oblique, i.e. angle Cr-RA > 140°; (2) subnodus Sn very oblique, with or without cross-veins reaching it; (3) CuAa with a broad area between the two most distal posterior branches; (4) presence of straight supplementary longitudinal veins in the areas between IR2 and MP near posterior wing margin.

[3] Males are distinguished by a weak anal angle of the hindwing base and in some species of Upper Jurassic Stenophlebia by a club-like dilation of the terminal part of the abdomen.

The male terminalia of the abdomen are of the anisopterid type, thus composed of a pair of dorsal claspers (cerci) and an unpaired ventral process (epiproct).

[6] Bechly (2005) could show that the very small species "Stenophlebia" casta from the Upper Jurassic Solnhofen Plattenkalk of Germany is not related to Stenophlebiidae.

[7] The family contains 9 described genera with a total of 18 species:[2] The set of shared derived characters listed in the description section above demonstrate that Stenophlebiidae is clearly a monophyletic group (clade).

[3] Before the advent of cladistic classification Stenophebiidae was classified within the odonate suborder Anisozyoptera, which was later recognized to be a paraphyletic grade.

The fossil record of this family ranges from Upper Jurassic of Germany (Solnhofen Plattenkalk, Nusplingen limestones[9]) and Kazakhstan (Karabastau Svita) to the Lower Cretaceous of Brazil (Crato Formation), Mongolia (Bon Tsagaan), Spain (Las Hoyas), and England (Durlston Formation) to the Upper Cretaceous (Cenomanian) of France[12] and Myanmar.