Ailuridae

AiluridaeGray, 1843

Accepted name, Mammal Species of the World 2005

Biochemical and molecular evidence has suggested that the enigmatic Ailurus is either (1) intermediate between procyonids and ursids (O'Brien et al., 1985; Sarich, 1973; Tagle et al., 1986; Wayne et al., 1989; Wurster and Benirschke, 1968); (2) more closely related to ursids than to procyonids (Todd and Pressmann, 1968; Zhang and Shi, 1991); (3) more closely related to procyonids than to ursids (Goldman et al., 1989; Pecon Slattery and O'Brien, 1995), or, finally; (4) more closely related to mephitids+procyonids (Bininda-Emonds et al., 1999; Flynn et al., 2000). Morphological studies have pointed out the lack of any shared derived features with the procyonids (Bugge, 1978; Decker and Wozencraft, 1991; Ginsburg, 1982; Hunt, 1974; Mayr, 1986; Schmidt-Kittler, 1981; Wozencraft, 1989a, b). Flynn et al. (1988) could not find any unambiguous features to place Ailurus with the procyonids, and only two characters to unite Ailurus with some procyonids, the los... [truncated]

• Wilson, D and Reeder, D. (eds.) 2005. Mammal Species of the World. A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference. 3rd ed. -- 2142 pp. Johns Hopkins University Press.