When was panda discovered

Although it may sound like an oxymoron, a University of Iowa anthropologist and his colleagues report the first discovery of a skull from a "pygmy-sized" giant panda -- the earliest-known ancestor of the giant panda -- that lived in south China some two million years ago.

The ancestor of today's giant panda really was a pygmy giant panda, says Russell Ciochon, UI professor of anthropology. Previous discoveries of teeth and other remains made between and had failed to establish the animal's size. Ciochon says that the ancient panda formally known as Ailuropoda microta, or "pygmy giant panda" was probably about three feet in length, compared to the modern giant panda, which averages in excess of five feet in length.

Also, like it's modern counterpart, it lived on bamboo shoots, as indicated by wear patterns recorded on teeth and specialized muscle markings, indicating heavy chewing, on the skull. The new find, made about 18 months ago in a south China karst limestone cave by Chinese researchers and co-authors Changzhu Jin and Jinyi Liu of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, shows that the basic anatomy of the giant panda has remained largely unchanged for millions of years.

Ciochon says that the skull --, about one-half the size of a modern-day giant panda skull, but anatomically very similar -- indicates that the giant panda has evolved for more than three million years as a separate lineage apart from other bears and was adapted to eating bamboo very early in its development. Our new discovery shows the great time depth of this unique bamboo-eating specialization in pandas.

Driven by his curiosity to find out where this strange fur had come from, David hired hunters to scout the mountains of Baoxing and bring him the animal in the flesh. On April 1, , three weeks after finding his initial clue, David finally laid his eyes on a live "black and white bear. In a letter he sent to the museum in Paris, David told them he had found something special and proposed the Latin name "Ursus melanoleucus" for the animal -- literally meaning "black and white bear.

He also described its unusual markings and appearance and wrote: "I have not seen this species in the museums of Europe, and it is easily the prettiest I have come across; perhaps it will turn out to be new to science!

Nevertheless, he sent it as a specimen to the museum in Paris. There, his zoological contact Alphonse Milne-Edwards examined its skin and skeleton and later published a paper in declaring it a new species. The zoologist gave the unique bear its scientific name as "Ailuropoda melanoleuca" and set the "pandamania" bandwagon in motion. Due to its significant history, Baoxing is often called the "hometown of the giant panda.

Every now and then, villagers spot giant pandas walking along roads, sleeping on trees, and even making uninvited visits to their homes. One villager, named Li Jun, told Xinhua that wild pandas had visited his house three times.

Perhaps the most famous of all, however, is the giant panda. We already had a preliminary idea why they had their markings, but wanted to finally confirm the reason for its mysterious pattern. Viewed up close in a zoo, the giant panda is a striking conspicuous mix of a white bear with black forelegs, shoulders and hind legs, and an extraordinary face with black fur around the eyes and ears. By comparing these different parts of the body with the coloration of other carnivores pandas are officially classified as carnivores, contrary to popular belief and also with bears, we already knew that carnivores with white backs are found in snowy environments, and those with dark legs and shoulders are found in shady habitats.

This suggested that the fur was an adaptation to be camouflaged in different environments. Nowadays, giant pandas are confined to isolated forests in western China, where there are relatively few predators.

They work with giant pandas in the field and had rare photographs of wild giant pandas. However, we do not guarantee individual replies due to the high volume of messages. Your email address is used only to let the recipient know who sent the email. Neither your address nor the recipient's address will be used for any other purpose. The information you enter will appear in your e-mail message and is not retained by Phys. You can unsubscribe at any time and we'll never share your details to third parties.

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