Ailuropodinae is a subfamily of

Ursidae Bears are carnivoran mammals of the family Ursidae. They are classified as caniforms, or doglike carnivorans. Although only eight species of bears are extant, they are widespread, appearing in a wide variety of habitats throughout the Nort ...

that contains only one extant species, the

giant panda The giant panda (''Ailuropoda melanoleuca''), also known as the panda bear (or simply the panda), is a bear species endemic to China. It is characterised by its bold black-and-white coat and rotund body. The name "giant panda" is sometimes u ...

(''Ailuropoda melanoleuca'') of China. The fossil record of this group has shown that various species of pandas were more widespread across the

Holarctic The Holarctic realm is a biogeographic realm that comprises the majority of habitats found throughout the continents in the Northern Hemisphere. It corresponds to the floristic Boreal Kingdom. It includes both the Nearctic zoogeographical reg ...

, with species found in places such as

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

, much of

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an are ...

and even

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and th ...

. 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.

Systematics

Ever since the giant panda was first described to science, they have been a source of taxonomic confusion, having been variously classified as a member of

Procyonidae Procyonidae is a New World family of the order Carnivora. It comprises the raccoons, ringtails, cacomistles, coatis, kinkajous, olingos, and olinguitos. Procyonids inhabit a wide range of environments and are generally omnivorous. Charac ...

Ailuridae Ailuridae is a family in the mammal order Carnivora. The family consists of the red panda (the sole living representative) and its extinct relatives. Georges Cuvier first described ''Ailurus'' as belonging to the raccoon family in 1825; this cl ...

, or even their own family Ailuropodidae. Part of their similarities with the

red panda The red panda (''Ailurus fulgens''), also known as the lesser panda, is a small mammal native to the eastern Himalayas and southwestern China. It has dense reddish-brown fur with a black belly and legs, white-lined ears, a mostly white muzzle ...

is in particular the presence of a "thumb" and five fingers; the "thumb" – actually a modified

sesamoid bone In anatomy, a sesamoid bone () is a bone embedded within a tendon or a muscle. Its name is derived from the Arabic word for 'sesame seed', indicating the small size of most sesamoids. Often, these bones form in response to strain, or can be prese ...

– that helps it to hold bamboo while eating. Recent genetic studies have shown that ailuropodines are indeed members of the bear family as they are not closely related to red pandas, which are placed in their own family Ailuridae. Any similarities between ailuropodines and ailurids are likely due to convergent evolution as the fossil record has shown the "false thumb" has been required independently for different purposes. The "false thumb" has actually been found in spectacled bears as well, suggesting that it is a plesiomorphic trait among bears that became lost in the

Ursinae Ursinae is a subfamily of Ursidae (bears) named by Swainson (1835). It was assigned to Ursidae by Bjork (1970), Hunt (1998) and Jin et al. (2007). Classification The genera ''Melursus'' and '' Helarctos'' are sometimes also included in ''Ursus' ...

subfamily.

Taxonomy

The ailuropodines are divided into two tribes the extinct Indarctini and

Ailuropodini 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 Holar ...

; the following taxonomy below is after Abella et al. (2012): * Subfamily Ailuropodinae Grevé, 1894 ** Tribe † Indarctini Abella et al., 2012 *** †''

Miomaci ''Miomaci'' (Latinized el, mio, italic=yes, abbreviation of " Miocene" + hu, maci, italic=yes "little bear") is a genus of herbivorous ailuropodine bear from the late Miocene of Hungary. It is known only from teeth and jaws, but these indicat ...

'' de Bonis et al., 2017 **** †''Miomaci pannonicum'' de Bonis et al., 2017 *** †'' Indarctos'' Pilgrim, 1913 **** †''Indarctos punjabensis'' (Lydekker, 1884) **** †''Indarctos zdanskyi'' Qiu & Tedford, 2003 **** †''Indarctos sinensis'' (Zdansky, 1924) **** †''Indarctos vireti'' Villalta & Crusafont, 1943 **** †''Indarctos arctoides'' (Deperet, 1895) **** †''Indarctos anthracitis'' (Weithofer, 1888) **** †''Indarctos salmontanus'' Pilgrim, 1913 **** †''Indarctos atticus'' (Weithofer, 1888) **** †''Indarctos bakalovi'' (Kovachev, 1988) **** †''Indarctos lagrelli'' (Zdansky, 1924 **** †''Indarctos oregonensis'' Merriam et al., 1916 **** †''Indarctos nevadensis'' Macdonald, 1959 ** Tribe

Grevé, 1894 *** †''

Kretzoiarctos ''Kretzoiarctos'' is an extinct bear genus from the European Miocene. It consists of ''Kretzoiarctos beatrix'', an ancestor of the extant giant panda. Description ''Kretzoiarctos beatrix'' was originally described in 2011 as ''Agriarctos beatr ...

'' Abella et al., 2012 **** †''Kretzoiarctos beatrix'' Abella et al., 2011 *** †''

Agriarctos ''Agriarctos'' is an extinct genus of panda from the Middle to Late Miocene, approximately 8-18 million years ago. This genus and its type species ''A. gaali'' was established based on fossils from Hatvan, Hungary, and ''A. vighi'' based on ...

'' Kretzoi, 1942 **** †''Agriarctos depereti'' (Schlosser, 1902) **** †''Agriarctos gaali'' Kretzoi, 1942 **** †''

Agriarctos nikolovi ''Agriarctos nikolovi'' is an extinct species of panda from the Late Miocene of Bulgaria, some 6 million years ago The abbreviation Myr, "million years", is a unit of a quantity of (i.e. ) years, or 31.556926 teraseconds. Usage Myr (mill ...

'' Jiangzuo & Spassov, 2022 **** †''Agriarctos vighi'' Kretzoi, 1942 *** †''

Ailurarctos ''Ailurarctos'' ("cat bear") is an extinct genus of panda from the Late Miocene of China, some 8 million years ago The abbreviation Myr, "million years", is a unit of a quantity of (i.e. ) years, or 31.556926 teraseconds. Usage Myr ( ...

'' Qi et al., 1989 **** †''Ailurarctos yuanmouensis'' Zong, 1997 **** †''Ailurarctos lufengensis'' Qi et al., 1989 *** ''

Ailuropoda ''Ailuropoda'' is the only extant genus in the ursid (bear) subfamily Ailuropodinae. It contains one living and three fossil species of panda. Only one species—''Ailuropoda melanoleuca''—currently exists; the other three species are prehist ...

'' Milne-Edwards, 1870 **** †'' Ailuropoda microta'' Pei, 1962 **** †''Ailuropoda wulingshanensis'' Wang & Alii, 1982 **** †'' Ailuropoda baconi'' Woodward 1915 **** ''

Ailuropoda melanoleuca The giant panda (''Ailuropoda melanoleuca''), also known as the panda bear (or simply the panda), is a bear species endemic to China. It is characterised by its bold black-and-white coat and rotund body. The name "giant panda" is sometimes u ...

'' David, 1869 –

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q17560554 Bears Extant Miocene first appearances