The [[family (biology)|family]] Herpestidae was first [[scientific description|described]] by French biologist [[Charles Lucien Bonaparte]] in 1845.<ref name="Bonaparte1845">{{cite book|last1=Bonaparte|first1=C.L.|title=Catalogo Methodico dei Mammiferi Europei|date=1845|publisher=L. di Giacomo Pirola|location=Milan, Italy|page=1|url=https://archive.org/stream/catalogometodico00bona_0#page/n3/mode/2up}}</ref> InNo herlibro de 1973 book ''The Carnivores'',mammalogistdo zoólogo R. F. Ewer includedtodas allas mongoosesmangostas inestaban theincluídas familyna familia dos [[Viverridae]] (theas civetscivetas), thoughaínda subsequentque publicationsposteriores consideredpublicacións themas aconsideraban nunha separatefamilia familyseparada.<ref name="Gittleman1989">{{cite book|editor1-last=Gittleman|editor1-first=J.L.|title=Carnivore Behavior, Ecology, and Evolution|date=1989|publisher=Springer|location=Boston, USA|isbn=978-1-4613-0855-3|pages=569–72|url=http://download.springer.com/static/pdf/53/bbm%253A978-1-4613-0855-3%252F1.pdf?originUrl=http%3A%2F%2Flink.springer.com%2Fbook%2Fbbm%3A978-1-4613-0855-3%2F1&token2=exp=1459854924~acl=%2Fstatic%2Fpdf%2F53%2Fbbm%25253A978-1-4613-0855-3%25252F1.pdf%3ForiginUrl%3Dhttp%253A%252F%252Flink.springer.com%252Fbook%252Fbbm%253A978-1-4613-0855-3%252F1*~hmac=b016657919bca3323ec2e39887f3f4dcc45d7d836b9b51ec3e41b59aa0b17725}}</ref> InEn 1864, Britisho zoólogo zoologistbritánico [[John Edward Gray]] classifiedclasificou theos herpestidsherpéstidos intoen threetres [[subfamily|subfamiliessubfamilia]]s: Galiidinae, Herpestinae ande Mungotinae.<ref name="Gray1865">{{cite journal|last1=Gray|first1=J.E.|title=A revision of the genera and species of viverrine animals (Viverridae) founded on the collection in the British Museum|journal=[[Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London]]|date=1865|pages=502–579|url=http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/28500835#page/594/mode/1up}}</ref> ThisEste groupingagrupamento wasfoi supportedapoiado bypolo Britishzoólogo zoologistbritánico [[Reginald Innes Pocock]] inno seu hislibro 1919de publication1919, inna whichcal hedenominaba referreda to the family asfamilia "Mungotidae".<ref name="Pocock1919">{{cite journal|last1=Pocock|first1=R.I.|title=The classification of mongooses (Mungotidae)|journal=The Annals and Magazine of Natural History|date=1919|issue=3|pages=515–524|series=9}}</ref> HoweverPorén, inas theevidencias 2000s,xenéticas [[genetics|genetic]]obtridas evidencena fromdécada de 2000 de análises de [[nuclearADN DNA|nuclear]] ande [[mitochondrialADN DNAmitocondrial|mitochondrialmitocondrial]] analysesargumentou argueden againstcontra placingde thesituar galidiinesos ingalidiinos thena mongoosefamilia familydas mangostas; theseestas speciesespecies havese beenviu foundque toestaban bemáis moreestreitamente closelyrelacionadas relatedcon tooutros othercarnívoros Madagascarde carnivoresMadagascar, includingcomo theas fosas ''[[FossaCryptoprocta (animal)|fossaferox]]'' ande a ''[[MalagasyFossa civetfossana]]''.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Yoder |first=A.D. |first2=M.M. |last2=Burns|year=2003 |last3=Zehr |first3=S. |last4=Delefosse |first4=T. |last5=Veron |first5=G. |last6=Goodman |first6=S.M. |last7=Flynn |first7=J.J. |title=Single origin of Malagasy carnivora from an African ancestor |journal=[[Nature (journal)|Nature]] |volume=421 |issue=6924 |pages=434–437 |doi=10.1038/nature01303 |pmid=12610623}}</ref><ref name="Flynn2005">{{cite journal| last1=Flynn| first1=J.J.| last2=Finarelli| first2=J.| last3=Zehr|first3=S.|last4=Hsu|first4=J.|last5=Nedbal|first5=M.|title=Molecular phylogeny of the Carnivora (Mammalia): Assessing the Impact of Increased sampling on resolving enigmatic relationships|journal=Systematic Biology|date=2005|volume=54|issue=2|pages=317–337|doi=10.1080/10635150590923326|pmid=16012099}}</ref><!--highsupport values for monophyly of Eupleridae in all cladograms-->Os Galiidinae isé presentlyconsiderada consideredactualemnte aunha subfamilysubfamilia ofde [[Eupleridae]].<ref>{{MSW3|id=14000443|page=}}</ref>
