Misplaced Pages

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Ingii (talk | contribs) at 07:35, 20 May 2009 (lv). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Ailuropoda Temporal range: Late Pliocene to Recent
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Carnivora
Family:	Ursidae
Genus:	Ailuropoda Milne-Edwards, 1870
Species
†A. baconi A. melanoleuca †A. microta †A. minor †A. wulingshanensis

Ailuropoda is an ursid genus containing five species of giant pandas. Only one species, the Giant Panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) currently exists; the other four species are prehistoric chronospecies. Despite its taxonomic classification as a carnivore, the panda has a diet that is primarily herbivorous, which consists almost exclusively of bamboo.

Pandas are descended from Ailurarctos, which lived during the late Miocene.

Classification

• †Ailuropoda microta (late Pliocene)
• †Ailuropoda wulingshanensis (late Pliocene - early Pleistocene)
• †Ailuropoda baconi (Pleistocene)
• †Ailuropoda minor (Pleistocene)
• Ailuropoda melanoleuca
  • Ailuropoda melanoleuca melanoleuca
  • Ailuropoda melanoleuca qinlingensis

References

1. ^ Jin, Changzhu (June 19 2007). "The first skull of the earliest giant panda" (PDF; fee required). Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 104 (26): 10932–10937. doi:10.1073/pnas.0704198104. PMID 17578912. Retrieved 2007-06-19. {{cite journal}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)

This article about a carnivoran is a stub. You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it.

• v
• t
• e

• Carnivora stubs
• Bears