Bear, Raccoon, or Neither: The Giant Panda's Contested Family Tree

The classification of giant pandas has long been a subject of controversy. Anatomic, behavioral, and biochemical data have been used to place pandas with bears (family Ursidae), with raccoons (Procyonidae), or in a family of their own (Ailuridae). Improved molecular analyses made during the 1990s strongly suggest bears as the giant panda's closest relatives, and many of their behavioral and reproductive characteristics are consistent with this placement.