Tag Archive for 'Ursidae'

Cave bear footprints in Honseca Cave, Spain. Image credit: Rodríguez et al., doi: 10.1080/10420940.2024.2446153.

Pleistocene Cave Bear Footprints Discovered in Spain

Jan 22, 2025 by Natali Anderson

Paleontologists have discovered a set of ancient bear footprints in Honseca Cave, northern Spain. Although distinguishing cave bear from brown bear tracks...

A male giant panda named Xiao Liwu at San Diego Zoo, California, the United States. Image credit: Sci.News.

All Bears are Omnivores Like Humans, New Study Suggests

Oct 3, 2022 by News Staff

New research on the diets of giant pandas (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) and sloth bears (Melursus ursinus) adds evidence that bears are low-protein macronutrient...

Life reconstruction of Agriarctos nikolovi. Image credit: Velizar Simeonovski.

Giant Panda’s Close Relative Lived in Europe as Recently as 5.5 Million Years Ago

Aug 1, 2022 by Enrico de Lazaro

Paleontologists in Bulgaria have described a new species of the panda genus Agriarctos, from two fossilized teeth dating to 5.5 million years ago. Life...

A special feature in the feeding behavior of the giant panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca), related to eating bamboo, is the habit to skim the outer green skin of the hard bamboo culm; although the feeding preferences have a seasonal shift, the culm is consumed and skinned during all the year; while eating culm, the outer skin is removed for reasons which until now have remained poorly understood. This image shows a male giant panda named Xiao Liwu at San Diego Zoo. Image credit: Sci-News.com.

New Research Sheds Light on Giant Panda’s Adaptation to Bamboo Diet

Jul 12, 2021 by News Staff

The evolutionary adaptation of the giant panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) to bamboo diet has taken place by adaptations in its masticatory (chewing) system,...