The physical mechanisms and mathematical models of the effective thermal conductivities of nanofluids have long been of interest to the nanofluid research community because the effective thermal conductivities of nanofluids cannot generally be fully explained and predicted by classical effective medium theories. This review article summarizes considerable progress made on this topic. Specifically, the physical mechanisms and mathematical models of the effective thermal conductivities of nanofluids are reviewed, the potential contributions of those physical mechanisms are evaluated, and the comparisons of the theoretical predictions and experimental data are presented along with opportunities for future research.