Volaticotherini is phylogenetically defined as the clade derived from the most recent common ancestor of Argentoconodon, Ichthyoconodon, and Volaticotherium.

[2] Ichthyoconodon was the first described member of this group, back in 1995, previously usually ranked among eutriconodonts, albeit tentatively due to its atypical teeth.

Volaticotherium, described in 2006, provided a fairly complete skeleton and led to the erection of a distinct family, Volaticotheridae, and order, Volaticotheria, to house the genus, and allowed Ichthyoconodon to be recognized as a potential relative.

These were moved to the eutriconodont family Triconodontidae, as part of the alticonodontine assemblage, and the clade was renamed Volaticotherini accordingly.

In the two forms that do possess postcranial remains, Argentoconodon and Volaticotherium, we see a highly specialised femur, lacking a femoral neck.

[2] Volaticotherini was a relatively widespread and long-lived clade, with occurrences known from the Toarcian of South America, Oxfordian of China, and Berriasian of Morocco.

The presence of volaticotherins in Gondwana is unusual, as they are among the few known Gondwanan triconodonts (and, if aligned with triconodontids, the only representatives of the group in Gondwanna), with Argentoconodon occurring as far back as the Early Jurassic in otherwise australosphenidan dominated faunas.

[2][6] Though highly unusual and possibly indicating atypical occlusion patterns,[1][2] volaticotherian molars are thought to have had a shearing motion as in other eutriconodonts.