Mei Xiang, a 22-year-old panda, eats bamboo at the Smithsonian National Zoo on May 20, 2021, in Washington, D.C. A giant prehistoric panda lumbered through the forests and swamps of Eastern Europe ...

The extinct bear, named, Ailuropoda microta is the earliest known member of the panda lineage, says team member Professor Russell Ciochon, a University of Iowa palaeoanthropologist.

The discovery of an extinct panda that roamed the forests and swamps of Europe millions of years ago could reignite debate about whether the ancestors of China’s iconic national animal actually ...

A prehistoric relative of the giant panda has been discovered in Spain, a new study says—which suggests that the charismatic Chinese bears might have originated in Europe.. The 11-million-year ...

When researchers examined the teeth, which had been kept in storage for around 40 years, they discovered that the fossils belonged to a never-before-seen species of ancient European panda.

Chinese scientists have found evidence that prehistoric people ate giant pandas. The Explainer has previously described the flavors of whale, sloth, dinosaur, horse, and even human. How does giant ...

They lived around 11 million years ago and were slightly smaller than today’s species. Despite this, the extinct panda was still a chunky animal, capable of weighing over 100 kilograms (220 pounds).

More: Extinct Giant Panda Lineage Discovered Thanks to DNA From 22,000-Year-Old Skull. Animals Tooth. Daily Newsletter. Get the best tech, science, and culture news in your inbox daily.

Modern panda pseudothumbs, ... According to Dr. Wang, this trait allowed the prehistoric panda to thrive in a jungle crowded with ancient elephants, deer and apes.

The recent discovery of an ancient panda species in Bulgaria is reinforcing previous studies that point to panda bears originating in Europe — a notion that China, where the giant panda is a ...