Family Ursidae Fischer, 1817. Mém. Soc. Imp. Nat. Moscow, 5:372.

COMMENTS: Ailurus and Ailuropoda have been placed in a separate family by some; however, morphological and molecular evidence strongly supports the placement of Ailuropoda in this family (Chorn and Hoffmann, 1978; Davis, 1964; Goldman et al., 1989; Hendy, 1980«; O'Brien et al., 1985; Wozencraft, 1989«). Thenius (1979) placed Ailuropoda in the monotypic family Ailuropodidae, and Ailurus in the Procyonidae. The placement of Ailurus is certainly more controversial, with most phenetic studies placing it in the procyonids and most phylogenetic studies placing it near or in the ursids. See comments under Ailurus concerning its placement here. Morphological studies have supported the monophyly of three subfamilies (Hendy, 1980«; Kurtén, 1966; Thenius, 1979), although this has not been collaborated by a recent molecular approach (Goldman et al., 1989).