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The giant panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca), also known as the panda bear or simply panda, is a bear species endemic to China. It is characterised by its white coat with black patches around the eyes, ears, legs and shoulders. Its body is rotund; adult individuals weigh 100 to 115 kg (220 to 254 lb) and are typically 1.2 to 1.9 m (3 ft 11 in to 6 ...
The red panda's place on the evolutionary tree has been debated, but modern genetic evidence places it in close affinity with raccoons, weasels, and skunks. It is not closely related to the giant panda, which is a bear, though both possess elongated wrist bones or "false thumbs" used for grasping bamboo.
Ailuropodinae is a subfamily of Ursidae that contains only one extant species, the giant panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) of China.The fossil record of this group has shown that various species of pandas were more widespread across the Holarctic, with species found in places such as Europe, much of Asia, North America and even Africa.
Ailuropoda is the only extant genus in the ursid (bear) subfamily Ailuropodinae.It contains one living and one or more fossil species of panda. [4] [5]Only one species—Ailuropoda melanoleuca—currently exists; the other three species are prehistoric chronospecies.
Ailuridae is a family in the mammal order Carnivora.The family consists of the red panda (the sole living representative) and its extinct relatives.. Georges Cuvier first described Ailurus as belonging to the raccoon family in 1825; this classification has been controversial ever since. [1]
Pandas are not procyonids nor are they a natural grouping. [51] The giant panda is a true bear [52] [53] while the red panda is a distinct family. [54] Skunks and stink badgers are placed in their own family, and are the sister group to a clade containing Ailuridae, Procyonidae and Mustelidae sensu stricto. [55] [54]
Credit: Wikimedia Commons. For around 5 million years, red pandas have perfected their bamboo-munching skills by climbing high into the trees of the Himalayas.
Ailuropoda microta is the earliest known ancestor of the giant panda. It measured 1 m (3 ft) in length; the modern giant panda grows to a size in excess of 1.5 m (5 ft). Wear patterns on its teeth suggest it lived on a diet of bamboo, the primary food of the giant panda.