[4] Xiaotingia had a dentary tooth count probably less than 10 and teeth similar in morphology to those of basal avians.

[2] The initial analysis by Xu et al. showed that Xiaotingia formed a clade with Archaeopteryx, Dromaeosauridae and Troodontidae to the exclusion of other groups traditionally seen as birds.

[2] This phylogenetic hypothesis was challenged by an analysis using different methods published several months later however, in which Archaeopteryx was again recovered as an avialan, while Xiaotingia remained closely allied to Anchiornis within the Troodontidae.

[4] †Oviraptorosauria †Scansoriopterygidae †Xiaotingia †Yixianosaurus †Pedopenna †Aurornis †Serikornis †Eosinopteryx †Anchiornis †Troodontidae †Dromaeosauridae †Archaeopteryx †Rahonavis †Balaur †Jeholornithidae Euavialae In the 2017 re-evaluation of the Harlem Archaeopteryx specimen, Xiaotingia was found to be an anchiornithid, with this group being avialan.

[3] Hartman et al. (2019), which aimed to improve the state of theropod phylogenetic research, placed both Xiaotingia and Archaeopteryx in Deinonychosauria, the former as a troodontid and the latter a close relative of anchiornithids.