Ailurarctos Explained

Ailurarctos ("cat bear") is an extinct genus of panda from the Late Miocene of China, some 8 million years ago.[1] [2] [3]

Different teeth structures in the Ailuropoda lineage indicate a mosaic evolution during the past 2 million years.[4] Like modern giant pandas, Ailurarctos had a false thumb that allowed it to grip bamboo, suggesting that the panda's specialized bamboo diet goes back to as early as 6 to 7 million years ago.[5]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: A Picture of Giant Panda's Evolutionary History and Fossil Evidences. China Giant Panda Museum. 7 November 2015.
  2. Jin C, Ciochon RL, Dong W, Hunt RM, Liu J, Jaeger M, Zhu Q . The first skull of the earliest giant panda . Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America . 104 . 26 . 10932–7 . June 2007 . 17578912 . 1904166 . 10.1073/pnas.0704198104 . 2007PNAS..10410932J . amp . free .
  3. Abella J, Alba DM, Robles JM, Valenciano A, Rotgers C, Carmona R, Montoya P, Morales J . Kretzoiarctos gen. nov., the oldest member of the giant panda clade . PLOS ONE . 7 . 11 . e48985 . 2012-11-14 . 23155439 . 3498366 . 10.1371/journal.pone.0048985 . 2012PLoSO...748985A . free .
  4. Figueirido B, Palmqvist P, Pérez-Claros JA, Dong W . Cranial shape transformation in the evolution of the giant panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) . Die Naturwissenschaften . 98 . 2 . 107–16 . February 2011 . 21132275 . 10.1007/s00114-010-0748-x . 2011NW.....98..107F . 26738942 .
  5. Wang, X., Su, D.F., Jablonski, N.G. et al. Earliest giant panda false thumb suggests conflicting demands for locomotion and feeding. Sci Rep 12, 10538 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-13402-y

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