Procyonids are relatively small animals, with generally slender bodies and long tails, though the common raccoon tends to be bulky.

[3] Procyonids share common morphological characteristics including a shortened rostrum, absent alisphenoid canals, and a relatively flat mandibular fossa.

[9][10][11][12] Procyonid fossils once believed to belong to the genus Bassariscus, which includes the modern ringtail and cacomistle, have been identified from the Miocene epoch, around 20 million years (Ma) ago.

[14] The traditional classification scheme shown below on the left predates the recent revolution in our understanding of procyonid phylogeny based on genetic sequence analysis.

[20] Bassaricyon (olingos and olinguito) Nasua and Nasuella (coatis) Procyon (raccoons) Bassariscus (ringtail and cacomistle) Potos (kinkajou) Several recent molecular studies have resolved the phylogenetic relationships between the procyonids, as illustrated in the cladogram below.

[15][14][20][21] Potos flavus (kinkajou) Procyon cancrivorus (crab eating raccoon) Procyon lotor (common raccoon) Procyon pygmaeus (Cozumel raccoon) Bassariscus sumichrasti (cacomistle) Bassariscus astutus (ringtail) Bassaricyon medius (western lowland olingo) Bassaricyon alleni (eastern lowland olingo) Bassaricyon gabbii (northern olingo) Bassaricyon neblina (olinguito) Nasua nasua (ring-tailed coati) Nasua narica (white-nosed coati) Nasuella olivacea (western mountain coati) Nasuella meridensis (eastern mountain coati) Below is a list of extinct taxa (many of which are fossil genera and species) compiled in alphabetical order under their respective subfamilies.