Ursoidea
Superfamily of mammals
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Ursoidea is a superfamily of arctoid carnivoran mammals that includes the families Subparictidae,[1][2] Amphicynodontidae,[3][2] and Ursidae. The last family includes the extant lineages of bears, as well as the extinct Hemicyoninae[4][5] and Ursavinae.[6]
| Ursoidea Temporal range: Bartonian - Present | |
|---|---|
| |
| Life reconstruction of Cephalogale shareri | |
,_Viiksimo,_Kainuu_region,_Finland,_16_June_2018_(43094873292).jpg) | |
| Brown bear (Ursus arctos) | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Carnivora |
| Parvorder: | Ursida |
| Superfamily: | Ursoidea Fischer von Waldheim, 1817 |
| Families | |
The interrelationships of ursoids has had slight arrangements. In the past it was thought the extinct Amphicyonidae were stem-bears based on morphological analysis of the ear region,[7] though the most recent publications on early amphicyonids suggests they were basal caniforms.[8][9][10]
The amphicynodontids are sometimes classified as either a subfamily of bears,[3] a paraphyletic assemblage of early bears,[2] or even stem-pinnipeds.[11][12][13] The subparictids were previously classified as amphicynodontine/ids.[2] The hemicyonines have been occasionally reclassified as a separate family.[14]