Ailuropoda

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