Dwarf Panda Temporal range: Pleistocene | |
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Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Mammalia |
Order: | Carnivora |
Family: | Ursidae |
Subfamily: | Ailuropodinae |
Genus: | Ailuropoda |
Species: | †A. minor |
Binomial name | |
†Ailuropoda minor Pei, 1962 |
- Not to be confused with Ailuropoda microta.
The dwarf panda (Ailuropoda minor), 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. The first discovered skull of the animal in a south China limestone cave is estimated to be 2 million years old. The skull found is about half the size of a modern-day giant panda, but is anatomically very similar. This research suggests that the giant panda has evolved for more than three million years as a completely separate lineage from that of other bears.