The Panda (_Ælurus fulgens_), of the forest regions of the Eastern Himalayas and East Thibet, a small cat-like bear, has peculiarities of organization which render it necessary to place it in a family by itself. (Plate VII. vol. i. p. 331). An allied genus, _Æluropus_, a remarkable animal of larger size and in colour nearly all white, has recently been described by Professor Milne-Edwards, from the mountains of East Thibet; so that the family may be said to inhabit the border lands of the Oriental and Palæarctic regions. These animals have their nearest allies in the coatis and bears.
FAMILY 32.--URSIDÆ. (5 Genera, or Sub-genera, 15 Species.)
GENERAL DISTRIBUTION. __________________________________/\__________________________________ / \ NEOTROPICAL| NEARCTIC |PALÆARCTIC | ETHIOPIAN | ORIENTAL | AUSTRALIAN SUB-REGIONS|SUB-REGIONS|SUB-REGIONS|SUB-REGIONS|SUB-REGIONS|SUB-REGIONS. -----------+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------+------------ | | | | | 1 -- -- -- |1. 2. 3. 4 |1. 2. 3. 4 |-- -- -- --|1. 2. 3. 4 |-- -- -- -- | | | | |
The Bears have a tolerably wide distribution, although they are entirely absent from the Australian and Ethiopian, and almost so from the Neotropical region, one species only being found in the Andes of Peru and Chili. They comprise the following groups, some of which are doubtfully ranked as genera.
_Thalassarctos_, the polar bear (1 species) inhabiting the Arctic regions; _Ursus_, the true bears (12 species), which range over { 202}all the Nearctic and Palæarctic regions as far as the Atlas Mountains, the Indo-Chinese sub-region in the mountains, and to Hainan and Formosa; _Helarctos_, the Malay or sun-bear (1 species) confined to the Indo-Malayan sub-region; _Melursus_ or _Prochilus_, the honey-bear (1 species), confined to the first and second Oriental sub-regions, over which it ranges from the Ganges to Ceylon; and _Tremarctos_, the spectacled bear--commonly known as _Ursus ornatus_--which is isolated in the Andes of Peru and Chili, and forms a distinct group.
_Fossil Ursidæ._--Two bears (_Ursus spelæus_ and _U. priscus_) closely allied to living species, abound in the Post-tertiary deposits of Europe; and others of the same age are found in North America, as well as an extinct genus, _Arctodus_.