Evolution of a Red Panda

Biology Evolution of a

Red Panda

Sites and Researchers

by: Elam Seminario

wikipedia.com

scienceblogs.com

biology.about.com

Researchers:

Dr.Angela Glatston- Red Panda Expert

Dr.Mile Robert-Zoo Keeper

Manuel J Salesa-Evolution

Feild: Wildlands Studies

Food Web Description

Producers- Bamboo, Mushrooms, Tree Bark, and Fruit

1st Level Consumers- Pandas, Red Pandas, and Bamboo Rat

2nd level Consumers- Bamboo Rat Snakes, Marten(Weasel), Snow Leopard, People

Tertiary Consumers- Arctic Fox

Food Web

Adaptation

Red pandas have many adaptations. First, they have enlarged wrist bones located on each front paw, which serves as a "thumb." The thumb is used for holding on to bamboo tightly. The pandas also have a large tail used as a pillow and prevents heat loss. They have a small body mass to help them walk on thin branches, making the panda inaccessible to heavier predators.

Inside the Ecosystem

The Temperate forest has a lot of precipitation, humidity, and deciduous trees. Temperate forest has a large range of temperate. It ranges from 86 degrees F to -22 degrees F. It receive around 20-60 inches of precipitation. This include rain and snow.

The woodlands have a semiarid climate and a mixed shrub community. The growth of dense, low plants that contains flammable oils make fire a constant threat to all animals living within the ecosystem. It has hot, dry summers and cold, moist winters.

Cladogram

(cc) image by jantik on Flickr

Red Panda

Piegon

2002 March

Salamander

Perch

Fur

Claws

or

Nails

Classification Tree of a Red Panda

Lungs

Jaws

Red Panda

Evolutionary History and Convergent Evolution of a Red Panda

The red panda's fur is long, thick, and fuzzy to protect it against rain and cold in it's mountainous habitat at up to 5000m altitude. Its color helps the panda to blend with the reddish moss and white lichen growing on fir trees. These pandas have fur on the soles of their feet to aid grip on wet branches and to keep them warm while walking in the snow. They are between 50-60 cm long and weigh up to 6.5 to 13 pounds. Its specific name is Ailurus fulgens and it's found in Asia. Its habitat is Temperate forest and the woodlands.

There is no direct answer but paleontologist link them to raccoon like fossils because their similarity of their molars. Ancestry of the red panda was solely found in North America. But since there was no bamboo in North America, the ancestors of the red panda couldn't of eaten bamboo so the two animals had different diets. The fossil indicates it was related to the Procyonidae family(raccoon). The DNA evidence shows that it's a distant relative to weasels, raccoons, and skunks. Other experts think the red panda should be placed in the Ursidae family.

The convergent evolution of a Red Panda is the independent to the giant panda's adaptation to bamboo, one of the most dramatic case of convergent evolution. The raccoon and the red panda would also be convergent evolution because they are very similar looking and their actions are similar too.