Ailuropodinae

Ailuropodinae
Temporal range: Early Miocene–present
Giant panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca)
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Carnivora
Family: Ursidae
Subfamily: Ailuropodinae
Grevé, 1894
Tribes and genera

Ailuropodinae is a subfamily of Ursidae that contains only one extant species, the giant panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) of China. The fossil record of this group has shown that various species of pandas were more widespread across the Holarctic, with species found in places such as Europe, much of Asia, North America and even Africa.[1][2][3][4] The earliest pandas were not unlike other modern bear species in that they had an omnivorous diet but by around 2.4 million years ago, pandas have evolved to be more herbivorous.[5][6]

  1. ^ Ginsburg, Léonard, and Jorge Morales. "Hemicyoninae (Ursidae, Carnivora, Mammalia) and the related taxa from Early and Middle Miocene of Western Europe." Annales de paleontologie. Vol. 1. No. 84. 1998.
  2. ^ Montoya, P., L. Alcalá, and Jorge Morales. Indarctos (Ursidae, Mammalia) from the Spanish Turolian (Upper Miocene). Nationaal Natuurhistorisch Museum, 2001.
  3. ^ Abella, J., Plinio Montoya, and J. Morales. "Una nueva especie de Agriarctos (Ailuropodinae, Ursidae, Carnivora) en la localidad de Nombrevilla 2 (Zaragoza, España)." Estudios Geológicos 67.2 (2011): 187-191.
  4. ^ Abella, Juan; Alba, David M.; Robles, Josep M.; Valenciano, Alberto; Rotgers, Cheyenn; Carmona, Raül; Montoya, Plinio; Morales, Jorge; O’Grady, Patrick (2012). "Kretzoiarctos gen. nov., the Oldest Member of the Giant Panda Clade". PLOS ONE. 7 (11): e48985. Bibcode:2012PLoSO...748985A. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0048985. PMC 3498366. PMID 23155439.
  5. ^ Jin, C; Ciochon, R. L.; Dong, W; Hunt Jr, R. M.; Liu, J; Jaeger, M; Zhu, Q (2007). "The first skull of the earliest giant panda". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 104 (26): 10932–10937. Bibcode:2007PNAS..10410932J. doi:10.1073/pnas.0704198104. PMC 1904166. PMID 17578912.
  6. ^ Zhao, S; Zheng, P; Dong, S; Zhan, X; Wu, Q; Guo, X; Hu, Y; He, W; Zhang, S; Fan, W; Zhu, L; Li, D; Zhang, X; Chen, Q; Zhang, H; Zhang, Z; Jin, X; Zhang, J; Yang, H; Wang, J; Wang, J; Wei, F (2013). "Whole-genome sequencing of giant pandas provides insights into demographic history and local adaptation". Nature Genetics. 45 (1): 67–71. doi:10.1038/ng.2494. PMID 23242367. S2CID 1261505.