There are two extant species in the genus: the ringtail or ring-tailed cat (B. astutus) and the cacomistle (B. sumichrasti).

Genetic studies have indicated that the closest relatives of Bassariscus are raccoons,[2][3][4] from which they diverged about 10 million years ago in the Tortonian Age of the Miocene.

[4] The two lineages of Bassariscus are thought to have separated after only another two million years,[2] making it the extant procyonid genus with the earliest diversification.

Due to the more digitigrade stance of their legs compared to the plantigrade stance of other members of Procyonidae, some taxonomies place the genus as a separate family, Bassaricidae..[5] The name is a Greek word for fox ("bassaris") with a Latinized diminutive ending ("-iscus").

[7] Its habitat includes semi-arid areas in the southwestern United States,[8] the whole of Mexico, as well as moist tropical forests in Central America.