It was originally described as a new genus and species Parietis princeous of mustelid by Scott in 1893, for a single specimen, a mandible fragment with two anterior molars.

[3] Parictis bathygenus was described in 1947, but it was considered a different genus by 1958, and a synonym of Cynelos caroniavorus by 1976.

[8] The genus as a whole was placed within various families, including Canidae by Hall in 1931 and Ursidae by Hunt in 1998.

Parictis first appeared in North America in the Late Eocene (around 38 million years ago), but it did not arrive in Eurasia until the Miocene.

[12] This article related to prehistoric animals from order Carnivora is a stub.