Ursinae is a subfamily of Ursidae (bears) named by Swainson (1835). It was assigned to Ursidae by Bjork (1970), Hunt (1998), and Jin et al. (2007).[1][2][3]
Ursinae Temporal range:
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A Eurasian brown bear (Ursus arctos arctos) | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Mammalia |
Order: | Carnivora |
Family: | Ursidae |
Subfamily: | Ursinae Fischer de Waldheim, 1817 |
Genera | |
See text. |
The genera Melursus and Helarctos are sometimes also included in Ursus. The Asiatic black bear and the polar bear used to be placed in their own genera, Selenarctos and Thalarctos; these are now placed at subgenus rank.
A number of hybrids have been bred between American black, brown, and polar bears (see Ursid hybrids).