Ailuropoda
| Panda | |
|---|---|
| The giant panda, the only extant species in the genus and subfamily | |
| Ailuropoda fovealis skull | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Carnivora |
| Family: | Ursidae |
| Subfamily: | Ailuropodinae |
| Genus: | Ailuropoda Milne-Edwards, 1870 |
| Type species | |
| Ailuropoda melanoleuca David, 1869 | |
| Species | |
|
†A. baconi | |
Ailuropoda is the only extant genus in the ursid (bear) subfamily Ailuropodinae. It contains one living and three fossil species of panda.
Only one species—Ailuropoda melanoleuca—currently exists; the other three species are prehistoric chronospecies. Despite its taxonomic classification as a carnivoran, the giant panda has a diet that is primarily herbivorous, which consists almost exclusively of bamboo.
Giant pandas have descended from Ailurarctos, which lived during the late Miocene.
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