What are they?
Just like Water Striders, Spirit beasts, Carrion Birds and Birds Of Prey, Ancient Beast are a collection of beasts grouped together into a single group, so that a lot of more beast can be tamable while sharing certain traits like their family skills, and diet.
So what kind of beast can we see in this group?
The previously exclusive Devilsaur, Pterodaxx, Diemetredon and other 'dinasour-esque' beasts (or maybe even skeletal raptor because it is fossilized!) except for raptor which we can consider as a more modern beast family compared to the aforementioned.
So are they exotic?
Yes, since this family will include Devilsaur
What are their family skills?
Same as devilsaur

Why do you think this group of beast are appropiate with MOP
With the return of the Zandalari, I can picture that their island are untouched, filled with ancient beast. I mean their flying mounts are petrodaxx! So patch 5.2 is the best patch to include them!