AILURARCTOS

The Ailurarctos is an extinct genus of panda from the Late Miocene of Chine. It existed approximately 8 million years ago, making it one of the oldest known ursids!

The teeth of the Ailurarctos differ from modern pandas, suggesting mosaic evolution occurred during the last 2 million years. Mosaic evolution is the idea that evolutionary change takes place in some body parts without simultaneous changes in other parts.

Similar to modern giant pandas, the Ailurarctos had what is known as a false thumb. The false thumb is a carpal bone that has been enlarged and can function as an opposable thumb.

The existence of the Ailurarctos' false thumb allowed it to grip bamboo, which suggests that a panda's bamboo diet goes back as far as 6 or 7 million years ago!