Living Beings
    Source-identified Ailuropoda melanoleuca; documentary image Framed for display
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    Ailuropoda melanoleuca (Mao Sun) (54831103977).jpg · Resized and converted to WebP for display. Christian Ursilva from København, Danmark · CC BY-SA 4.0

    Field guide · species

    Giant Panda

    Ailuropoda melanoleuca

    AnimaliaMammaliaCarnivoraUrsidae

    The giant panda is a bamboo-specialist bear of Chinese mountain forests. Its familiar black-and-white appearance conceals an unusual feeding strategy: a member of the carnivoran lineage makes its living largely from a fibrous plant.

    Public research profile · final editorial review pending.

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    Tree of lifeScientific lineage
    1. LifeLife
    2. DomainEukaryota
    3. KingdomAnimalia
    4. PhylumChordata
    5. ClassMammalia
    6. OrderCarnivora
    7. FamilyUrsidae
    8. GenusAiluropoda
    9. SpeciesAiluropoda melanoleuca
    Advanced classification

    Complete source lineage, including intermediate ranks. The standard view uses Life and the eight principal ranks.

    1. cellular organisms cellular root
    2. Eukaryota domain
    3. Opisthokonta clade
    4. Metazoa kingdom
    5. Eumetazoa clade
    6. Bilateria clade
    7. Deuterostomia clade
    8. Chordata phylum
    9. Craniata subphylum
    10. Vertebrata clade
    11. Gnathostomata clade
    12. Teleostomi clade
    13. Euteleostomi clade
    14. Sarcopterygii superclass
    15. Dipnotetrapodomorpha clade
    16. Tetrapoda clade
    17. Amniota clade
    18. Mammalia class
    19. Theria clade
    20. Eutheria clade
    21. Boreoeutheria clade
    22. Laurasiatheria superorder
    23. Carnivora order
    24. Caniformia suborder
    25. Ursidae family
    26. Ailuropoda genus
    27. Ailuropoda melanoleuca species
    Open in taxonomy explorer ↗

    Physical traits

    Black ears, limbs and eye patches contrast with a pale body. A broad head and powerful jaws support the repeated chewing needed to process bamboo.

    Scientific source 1 ↗ · Scientific source 2 ↗

    Habitat and range

    Mountain forests with substantial bamboo growth provide both food and shelter. Pandas can move between elevations as conditions and food availability change.

    Scientific source 1 ↗ · Scientific source 2 ↗

    Diet and nutrition

    Bamboo dominates feeding, but the panda is not simply a grazing herbivore. Its digestive anatomy retains features of its carnivoran ancestry, and much of its daily activity is devoted to obtaining and processing food.

    Scientific source 1 ↗ · Scientific source 2 ↗

    Behavior and activity

    Adults generally forage alone, communicating partly through scent. They climb and take shelter in natural cover rather than maintaining a single permanent den throughout the year.

    Scientific source 1 ↗ · Scientific source 2 ↗

    Reproduction and life cycle

    Mothers raise very small, dependent cubs. Reproductive timing and the survival of young are important considerations in both wild population research and conservation breeding.

    Scientific source 1 ↗ · Scientific source 2 ↗

    Geographic distribution

    The Mammal Diversity Database v2.5 records this species in China.

    Scientific source 1 ↗ · Scientific source 2 ↗

    Evidence

    Sources

    Connected life

    No reviewed ecological connections in the collection yet.

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