The giant panda, also known as the panda bear or simply panda, is a bear species endemic to China. It is characterised by its bold black-and-white coat and rotund body. The name "giant panda" is sometimes used to distinguish it from the red panda, a neighboring musteloid. Adult individuals average 100 to 115 kg, and are typically 1.2 to 1.9 m long. The species is sexually dimorphic, as males are typically 10 to 20% larger. The fur is white, with black patches around the eyes, ears, legs and shoulders. A thumb is visible on the bear's forepaw, which helps in holding bamboo in place for feeding. Giant pandas have adapted larger molars and expanded temporal fossa to meet their dietary requirements.
The giant panda is a bear from the family Ursidae.
In anatomy, a sesamoid bone is a bone embedded within a tendon or a muscle. Its name is derived from the Greek word for 'sesame seed', indicating the small size of most sesamoids. Often, these bones form in response to strain, or can be present as a normal variant. The patella is the largest sesamoid bone in the body. Sesamoids act like pulleys, providing a smooth surface for tendons to slide over, increasing the tendon's ability to transmit muscular forces.
Ailuropoda is the only extant genus in the ursid (bear) subfamily Ailuropodinae. It contains one living and three fossil species of panda.
Ursinae is a subfamily of Ursidae (bears) named by Swainson (1835). It was assigned to Ursidae by Bjork (1970), Hunt (1998), and Jin et al. (2007).
Amphicyonidae is an extinct family of terrestrial carnivorans belonging to the suborder Caniformia. They first appeared in North America in the middle Eocene, spread to Europe by the late Eocene, and further spread to Asia and Africa by the early Miocene. They had largely disappeared worldwide by the late Miocene, with the latest recorded species at the end of the Miocene in Africa. They were among the first carnivorans to evolve large body size. Amphicyonids are colloquially referred to as "bear-dogs".
Ailuridae is a family in the mammal order Carnivora. The family consists of the red panda and its extinct relatives.
Agriotherium is an extinct genus of bears whose fossils are found in Miocene through Pleistocene-aged strata of North America, Eurasia, and Africa. This long-lived genus persisted from at least ~11.6–2.5 Mya. Materials from the late-surviving A. africanum in Africa have suggested that A. africanum died out during the early Gelasian.
Barbourofelidae is an extinct family of carnivorans of the suborder Feliformia, sometimes known as false saber-toothed cats, that lived in North America, Eurasia and Africa during the Miocene epoch and existed for about 7.9 million years. Thought to be an independent lineage from the Nimravidae and Machairodontinae, which had all attained elongated canines, recent research argues that it may be a subfamily of the Nimravidae, extending its biochronological range into the Miocene, although this issue is not yet fully resolved.
Simocyon is a genus of extinct carnivoran mammal in the family Ailuridae. Simocyon, which was about the size of a mountain lion, lived in the late Miocene and early Pliocene epochs, and has been found in Europe, Asia, and rarely, North America and Africa.
Ailurarctos is an extinct genus of panda from the Late Miocene of China, some 8 million years ago.
Hemicyoninae is an extinct subfamily of Ursidae, often called dog bears. They were bear-like carnivorans living in Europe, North America, Africa and Asia during the Oligocene through Miocene epochs 33.9–5.3 Ma, existing for approximately 28.6 million years. They are sometimes classified as a separate family.
Miklós Kretzoi was a Hungarian geologist, paleontologist and paleoanthropologist and Széchenyi Prize winner.
Kretzoiarctos is an extinct bear genus from the European Miocene. It consists of Kretzoiarctos beatrix, an ancestor of the extant giant panda.
Agriotheriini is an extinct tribe of ailuropodine bears from the Middle Neogene to Early Quaternary periods with fossils found from Eurasia, Africa and North America. The tribe consists of the genera Agriotherium, Huracan, Indarctos, and possibly Miomaci. The taxonomy of these bears has variously placed some of the genera in other bear lineages such as Hemicyoninae and Ursavinae.
This paleomammalogy list records new fossil mammal taxa that were described during the year 2019, as well as notes other significant paleomammalogy discoveries and events which occurred during that year.
Miomaci is a genus of herbivorous ailuropodine bear from the late Miocene of Hungary. It is known only from teeth and jaws, but these indicate it was significantly smaller than its close relative Indarctos, which could reach 265.74 kg.
Agriarctos is an extinct genus of panda from the Middle to Late Miocene, approximately 8-18 million years ago. This genus and its type species A. gaali was established based on fossils from Hatvan, Hungary, and A. vighi based on fossils from Rózsaszentmárton. Miklós Kretzoi proposed Agriarctos was closely related with Agriotherium. Previously published, Ursavus depereti was assigned to Agriarctos by Kretzoi, but now proved to be polyphyletic.
Huracan is an extinct genus of agriotheriin ailuropodine from the Neogene period. Fossils were found from North America and Eastern Asia. Unlike its modern relative the giant panda, which is a bamboo specialist, Huracan was a hypercarnivorous genus of bear that had adaptations for cursoriality.
