{"id":1500,"date":"2023-10-24T03:59:25","date_gmt":"2023-10-23T19:59:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hiredchina.com\/articles\/2023\/10\/24\/first-ancestors-of-giant-pandas-probably-lived-in-europe\/"},"modified":"2024-06-29T23:50:16","modified_gmt":"2024-06-29T15:50:16","slug":"giant-pandas-probably-lived-in-europe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hiredchina.com\/articles\/giant-pandas-probably-lived-in-europe\/","title":{"rendered":"First Ancestors of Giant Pandas Probably Lived in Europe"},"content":{"rendered":"

The giant panda<\/a> (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) is only found in forested mountain ranges in central China<\/a>. It famously eats little but indigestible bamboo, despite having the digestive system of a carnivore, and is one of the world\u2019s most iconic vulnerable spec<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

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Understanding the giant pandas<\/h2>\n

The giant panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) is only found in forested mountain ranges in central China. It famously eats little but indigestible bamboo, despite having the digestive system of a carnivore, and is one of the world\u2019s most iconic vulnerable species. This black-and-white bear is the only surviving member of the Ailuropodinae subfamily, part of the larger Ursidae family.<\/p>\n

Nobody really knows how the giant panda evolved. Few fossils of its relatives have been found, so its lineage is almost as hotly debated as that of humans.<\/p>\n

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Now palaeoanthropologist David Begun at the University of Toronto in Canada has found a set of fossil teeth in the town of Rudab\u00e1nya, Hungary.<\/p>\n

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Begun was looking for ancient hominid bones when he spotted the teeth trapped beneath a rhino\u2019s shoulder blade. The teeth are 10 million years old, placing them in the late Miocene.<\/p>\n

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The team compared the shape, structure and wear patterns of the teeth with those of other bears. Such wear patterns, created when food being chewed scrapes away some tooth enamel, can reveal what an animal ate \u2013 and in this\u00a0case\u00a0they were similar to those of giant pandas. \u201cBoth species consumed tough plant foods, requiring shearing rather than crushing of food during<\/a> chewing,\u201d says de Bonis. \u201cThis\u00a0tell\u00a0us that the way of life of the panda\u2019s ancestors was very similar to the modern panda.\u201d<\/p>\n

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The teeth belonged to a previously unknown panda, and the team has named the species Miomaci\u00a0panonnicum. \u201cMiomaci\u00a0could be considered not like a direct ancestor, but more like a \u2018cousin\u2019 of the modern panda,\u201d says de Bonis. \u201cTheir lineage probably separated in the middle Miocene period.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\u201cFrom the description, it appears to be closer to the split between giant pandas and the rest of the carnivores, including bears,\u201d says Russell Ciochon at the University of Iowa. \u201cThe fossil they found lacks the very specialised dental anatomy found in modern giant pandas, which evolved in southern China around 2 million years ago, and is believed to be when pandas became dependent on bamboo.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Panda history<\/b><\/p>\n

Since giant pandas are confined to China, we had assumed that the panda family has been living there since shortly after it split off from other bears. Some fossils support that idea. Fossil pandas can be found in China as far back as 8 million years ago.<\/p>\n

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However, in 2012 scientists found teeth from possibly the oldest known direct ancestor of the giant panda, Kretzoiarctos\u00a0beatrix. They were 11.6 million years old and were discovered in Spain, suggesting the giant panda\u2019s ancestors originated in Europe before migrating to Asia.<\/p>\n

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Climate may have played a role. When\u00a0Miomaci\u00a0lived, Europe was warmer and wetter than it is today. The chemical make-up of other teeth from Rudab\u00e1nya suggest the area was once a lush subtropical forest on the shores of a lake. Such forests disappeared from Europe about 5 million years ago, and this may have\u00a0spelt\u00a0the demise of European pandas. \u201cThe environment cooled and dried out,\u201d says de Bonis. \u201cThere was a change in the faunas in Europe, and the species linked to dense warm forest disappeared.\u201d China could have been the only congenial home for surviving pandas.<\/p>\n

Source:\u00a0<\/span>new<\/span>\u00a0scientist<\/span><\/p>\n

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