This family of three Recent genera and eight species occurred historically almost throughout Eurasia and North America, in the Atlas Mountains of North Africa, and in the Andes of South America. Males average about 20 percent larger than females. The coat is long and shaggy, and the fur is generally unicolored, usually brown, black, or white.
Some genera have white or buffy crescents or semicircles on the chest.
Tremarctos, the spectacled bear of South America, typically has a patch of white hairs encircling each eye. Ailuropoda, the giant panda, has a striking black and white color pattern. The ears are small, rounded, and erect. The soles are hairy in species that are mainly terrestrial but naked in species that climb considerably, such as Ursus malayanus. All limbs have five digits.