They used to be considered to be procyonids (which includes raccoons);
that has changed. They are more thought to be a sister clade (related
genetic group but not part of either genetic group) of procyonids and
mustelids. Procyonids and mustelids (and I think also the ursids
(bears) are the most recent off shoots of the dog branch of Carnivora
if memory serves. (BTW, mongoose types, the viverrids are from the cat
branch but had similar selection pressures.)

Most recent genetic work that relates to taxonomy for them is:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21252386

Note:
>Our phylogenetic analyses support Ailuridae as the sister taxon to a
>clade containing Procyonidae and Mustelidae, with Mephitinae being the
>sister taxon to all of them.

>Syst Biol. 2011 Mar;60(2):175-87. Epub 2011 Jan 20.
>Phylogenetic utility of nuclear introns in interfamilial relationships
>of Caniformia (order Carnivora).
>Yu L, Luan PT, Jin W, Ryder OA, Chemnick LG, Davis HA, Zhang YP.
>Source
>Laboratory for Conservation and Utilization of Bio-Resources and Key
>Laboratory for Microbial Resources of the Ministry of Education,
>Yunnan University, Kunming 650091, China. [log in to unmask]
>Abstract
>The monophyletic group Caniformia (dog-like carnivores) in the order
>Carnivora comprises 9 families. Except for the general consensus for
>the earliest divergence of Canidae and the grouping of Procyonidae and
>Mustelidae, conflicting phylogenetic hypotheses exist for the other
>caniformian families. In the present study, a data set comprising >
>22 kb of 22 nuclear intron loci from 16 caniformian species is used to
>investigate the phylogenetic utility of nuclear introns in resolving
>the interfamilial relationships of Caniformia. Our phylogenetic
>analyses support Ailuridae as the sister taxon to a clade containing
>Procyonidae and Mustelidae, with Mephitinae being the sister taxon to
>all of them. The unresolved placements of Ursidae and Pinnipeds here
>emphasize a need to add more data and include more taxa to resolve
>this problem. The present study not only resolves some of the
>ambiguous relationships in Caniformia phylogeny but also shows that
>the noncoding nuclear markers can offer powerful complementary data
>for estimating the species tree. None of the newly developed introns
>here have previously been used for phylogeny reconstruction, thus
>increasing the spectrum of molecular markers available to mammalian
>systematics. Interestingly, all the newly developed intron data
>partitions exhibit intraindividual allele heterozygotes (IIAHs).
>There are 115 cases of IIAHs in total. The incorporation of IIAHs
>into phylogenetic analysis not only provides insights into the
>interfamilial relationships of Caniformia but also identifies two
>potential hybridization events occurred within Ursidae and Otariidae,
>respectively. Finally, the powers and pitfalls of phylogenetics using
>nuclear introns as markers are discussed in the context of Caniformia
>phylogeny.
>
>PMID: 21252386 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

Mephitinae are skunks and the pinnipeds are seals.

Here is the taxonomy:

<http://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=621846>

Here is a somewhat recent (decade old) French paper (but there is a
translation of the abstract into English) on a Miocene Ailurinae molar:
http://www.mnhn.fr/publication/geodiv/g01n1a4.pdf

and here is a site on Carnivore evolution BUT IT IS BASED ON ONLY ONE
***OLD*** REFERENCE (1980s):
http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/mammal/carnivora/carnivorafr.html

The primates and rodents (to which we are more closely related) also
ultimately evolved from insectivores earlier on. I used to prospect
Paleocene/Eocene boundary in the badlands of Wyoming for some
university teaching collections, but that was back in the dark ages
of the 1970s.

Ah, you may well like this:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16850214

>Genetica. 2006 May;127(1-3):65-79.
>Phylogeny of the caniform carnivora: evidence from multiple genes.
>Yu L, Zhang YP.
>Source
>Laboratory of Molecular Biology of Domestic Animals, and Cellular and
>Molecular Evolution, Kunming Institute of Zoology, 650223, Kunming,
>China.
>Abstract
>The monophyletic group Caniformia in the order Carnivora currently
>comprises seven families whose relationships remain contentious. The
>phylogenetic positions of the two panda species within the Caniformia
>have also been evolutionary puzzles over the past decades, especially
>for Ailurus fulgens (the red panda). Here, new nuclear sequences from
>two introns of the beta-fibrinogen gene (beta-fibrinogen introns 4
>and 7) and a complete mitochondrial (mt) gene (ND2) from 17 caniform
>representatives were explored for their utilities in resolving
>higher-level relationships in the Caniformia. In addition, two
>previously available nuclear (IRBP exon 1 and TTR intron 1) data sets
>were also combined and analyzed simultaneously with the newly obtained
>sequence data in this study. Combined analyses of four nuclear and
>one mt genes (4417 bp) recover a branching order in which almost
>all nodes were strongly supported. The present analyses provide
>evidence in favor of Ailurus fulgens as the closest taxon to the
>procyonid-mustelid (i.e., Musteloidea sensu stricto) clade, followed
>by pinnipeds (i.e., Otariidae and Phocidae), Ursidae (including
>Ailuropoda melanoleuca), and Canidae, the most basal lineage in the
>Caniformia. The potential utilities of different genes in the context
>of caniform phylogeny were also evaluated, with special attention to
>the previously unexplored beta-fibrinogen intron 4 and 7 genes.
>
>PMID: 16850214 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16850214

Anyway, it is kind of like saying, "Oh, wow, A is from Denmark and B is
from Finland." It makes them both Scandinavians but an actual strong
closeness of relationship can not be asserted from that. So, think of
them like very (*very*) distant cousins.

Hope that helps.

Sukie (not a vet)

Recommended ferret health links:
http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/ferrethealth/
http://ferrethealth.org/archive/
http://www.afip.org/ferrets/index.html
http://www.miamiferret.org/
http://www.ferrethealth.msu.edu/
http://www.ferretcongress.org/
http://www.trifl.org/index.shtml
http://homepage.mac.com/sukie/sukiesferretlinks.html
all ferret topics:
http://listserv.ferretmailinglist.org/archives/ferret-search.html

"All hail the procrastinators for they shall rule the world tomorrow."
(2010, Steve Crandall)
On change for its own sake: "You can go really fast if you just jump
off the cliff." (2010, Steve Crandall)

[Posted in FML 7143]