The Giant panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) is a bear species endemic to China. The name "giant panda" is sometimes used to distinguish it from the Red panda, a neighboring musteloid. The Giant panda has often served as China's national symbol,...
The Qinling panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca qinlingensis ) is a subspecies of the giant panda, discovered in the 1960s but not recognized as a subspecies until 2005. Besides the nominate subspecies, it is the first giant panda subspecies to be...
Ailuropoda microta 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...
Ailuropoda baconi is an extinct panda from the Late Pleistocene, 750 thousand years ago, and was preceded by A. wulingshanensis and A. microta as an ancestor of the giant panda (A. melanoleuca ). Very little is known about this animal; however, its...
