The Evolution of Diet of Giant Pandas

The Evolution Of Diet Of Giant Pandas

The ancestors of giant pandas, known as Ailuropoda microta, roamed China during the Late Miocene, at least 8 million years ago. These early pandas were robust and about the size of a fox. They had carnassial teeth, similar to those of carnivores like tigers and lions, and small molars, indicating that their diet primarily consisted of meat.

However, as significant changes occurred in the terrain, landforms, and climate, the ancestors of giant pandas gradually began to experiment with bamboo as a food source. By around 2 million years ago, during the Early Pleistocene, a new species of “small-sized giant panda” emerged. Compared to their ancestors, these pandas developed larger molars, better suited to biting and chewing tough bamboo plants.

Following the emergence of Ailuropoda baconi and the modern giant panda, their chewing abilities further improved, enabling them to consume a wider variety of bamboo species. Biologists have divided the current giant panda habitats into six major mountain ranges, where they can eat approximately 63 species of bamboo from 12 different genera. Each mountain range’s giant pandas have their preferred bamboo species. For instance, pandas in the Minshan Mountains prefer Fargesia denudata, those in the Qionglai Mountains favor Bashania fargesii, while pandas in the Xiangling Mountains prefer Yushania ailuropodina and Fargesia robusta. The pandas in the Liangshan Mountains enjoy Chimonobambusa species, and those in the Qinling Mountains like Fargesia qinlingensis and Bashania fargesii.

Giant pandas consume different parts of the bamboo depending on the species. For example, they only eat the leaves of Indocalamus tessellatus, the stalks of Phyllostachys nigra, and they particularly enjoy the shoots and leaves of Bashania fargesii and Fargesia robusta. During different seasons, pandas also select different parts of the bamboo: they primarily eat bamboo shoots in spring and summer, supplemented with leaves and stalks; in autumn, they mainly eat leaves, with shoots and stalks as side dishes; in winter, they almost exclusively consume stalks.

The proportion of various bamboo species in a giant panda’s diet is also related to their distribution. If we consider the total distribution area of the 63 species of bamboo that pandas consume, Fargesia robusta and Fargesia denudata account for about 40%, making up about 70% of all the food available to giant pandas.

In addition to bamboo, wild giant pandas also consume small amounts of other foods, such as the bark, leaves, roots, buds, and fruits of various plants, as well as small animals they can catch or the carcasses of large animals they come across. Occasionally, they might even raid domestic sheep. Captive giant pandas have a more diverse diet, with keepers carefully preparing foods like carrots, apples, pumpkins, beans, corn, oats, and specially-made nutrition-packed steamed buns rich in vitamins and trace elements.

Related Knowledge

Do Giant Pandas Have Thumbs?

Giant pandas do not have actual thumbs, but they have a unique adaptation that functions similarly. In their wrist area, there is a specialized bone called a “pseudo-thumb” or “false thumb.” This bone protrudes outward and works much like a thumb, allowing giant pandas to grasp bamboo with great dexterity. When eating, pandas use this pseudo-thumb in conjunction with the other parts of their paw to hold onto bamboo. They then use their arm strength and wrist power to snap the bamboo, peeling off the hard outer shell along the cracks to consume the more digestible inner parts (Do Giant Pandas Really Have a “Sixth” Finger?).

Which Animals Love Bamboo?

Apart from giant pandas, Bamboo Rats also favor bamboo. Bamboo rats, belonging to the family Rhizomys and subfamily Rhizomyinae within the order Rodentia, are named for their preference for bamboo. There are two main genera: Rhizomys (small bamboo rats), which mainly eat bamboo roots and shoots, and Cannomys (bamboo rats), which consume bamboo roots and stems.