The superfamily was named by Frech in 1902, presently contains ten families, only one of which was included in the original Otocerataceae of Hyatt, 1900, the remaining having been added.

The Xenodiscoidea has its origins in the Middle Permian in the prolecanitid Daraelitidae through the ancestral Xenodiscidae.

According to Kummel (1952) and Arkell et al. (1957) the Xenodiscidae gave rise to the Otoceratidae and Ophiceratidae.

The Ophiceratidae in turn gave rise to the Dieneroceratidae which is considered the source for all remaining ceratitid stocks.

The Huananoceratidae, Liuchengoeratidae, Plueronodoceratidae, and Tapshanitidae, described by Zhao et al. 1978,[full citation needed] include Late Permian and Early Triassic genera from Asia.