What is "arctoidea"

Arctoidea \Arc*toid"e*a\, n. pl. [NL., fr. Gr. ? bear + -oid.] (Zo["o]l.) A group of the Carnivora, that includes the bears, weasels, etc.

Arctoidea is an infraorder of extinct and extant mostly carnivorous mammals which include the extinct group Hemicyonidae (dog-bears), and extant groups Musteloidea (weasels, raccoons, skunks, red pandas), Pinnipedia (seals, sea lions), and Ursidae (bears), found in all continents from the Eocene, , to the present. Arctoids are caniforms, along with dogs (canids) and extinct bear dogs (Amphicyonidae). The earliest caniforms were superficially similar to martens, which are tree-dwelling mustelids. Together with cats, caniforms comprise the order Carnivora.