Ursidae Fischer de Waldheim 1817

Wilson, Don E. & Reeder, DeeAnn, 2005, Order Carnivora, Mammal Species of the World: a Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3 rd Edition), Volume 1, Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, pp. 532-628 : 586

Ursidae Fischer de Waldheim 1817

Ursidae Fischer de Waldheim 1817 , Mem. Soc. Imp. Nat. Moscow, 5: 372.

Synonyms: Ailuropodidae Pocock 1916 ; Ursinidae Gray 1821 .

Genera: 5 genera with 8 species:

Genus Ailuropoda Milne-Edwards 1870 (1 species)

Genus Helarctos Horsfield 1825 (1 species with 2 subspecies)

Genus Melursus Meyer 1793 (1 species with 2 subspecies)

Genus Tremarctos Gervais 1855 (1 species)

Genus Ursus Linnaeus 1758 (4 species with 39 subspecies)

Discussion: Ailuropoda has 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; Sarich, 1973, 1976; Mayr, 1986; Goldman et al., 1989; Hendey, 1980 a, b; O'Brien et al., 1985; Wozencraft, 1989 a). Thenius (1979) placed Ailuropoda in the monotypic family Ailuropodidae . Morphological studies have supported the monophyly of three subfamilies (Hendey, 1980; Kurtén, 1966; Thenius, 1979), although this has not been corroborated by a recent molecular approach ( Goldman et al. 1989). Subfamilies are not recognized here. Synonyms allocated according to McKenna and Bell (1997).