Ursidae

Ursidae
Brown Bear (Ursus arctos)
Scientific Classification
Kingdom	Animalia
Phylum	Chordata
Class	Mammalia
Order	Carnivora
Family	Ursidae

Ursidae is a family from the Carnivora order. Although there are only eight living species of bear, they are widespread, appearing in a wide variety of habitats throughout the Northern Hemisphere and partially in the Southern Hemisphere. Bears are found in the continents of North America, South America, Europe, and Asia.

Characteristics

Bears are generally bulky and robust animals with relatively short legs. Bears are sexually dimorphic with regard to size, with the males being larger. Larger species tend to show increased levels of sexual dimorphism in comparison to smaller species, and where a species varies in size across its distribution individuals from larger sized areas tend also to vary more. Bears are the most massive terrestrial members of the order Carnivora, with some Polar Bears and Brown Bears weighing over 750 kilograms (1,700 lb). As to which species is the largest may depend on whether the assessment is based on which species has the largest individuals (brown bears) or on the largest average size (polar bears). The smallest bears are the Sun Bears of Asia, which weigh an average of 65 kilograms (140 lb) for the males and 45 kilograms (99 lb) for the females.

Subfamilies

Ailuropodinae
Tremarctinae
Ursinae

General

Image	Name
	Ailuropoda
	Ailuropoda is the only genus in the ursid (bear) subfamily Ailuropodinae. It contains one living and four fossil species of giant panda.
	Helarctos
	The sun bear (Helarctos malayanus), also known as the honey bear, is a bear found primarily in the tropical rainforest (the dense lowland forests) in Southeast Asia; North-East India, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Southern China, Peninsular Malaysia, and the islands of Sumatra and Borneo.
	Ursus
	Ursus is a genus in the family Ursidae (bears) that includes the widely distributed brown bears, the polar bear, and black bears. The name is derived from the Latin ursus, meaning bear.
	Tremarctos
	Tremarctos is a genus of the family Ursidae, subfamily Tremarctinae endemic to Americas from the Pliocene to recent. The northern species, the Florida short-faced bear was extinct 11 000 years ago. The sole living Tremarctos species is the South American spectacled bear.