Giant Panda Fossils Found in Spain# Animals - 动物园
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http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/news/2012/11/16/giant-panda-fo
Giant Panda Fossils Found in Spain
Two fossilized mandibles and several teeth found in northeastern Spain
dating from 11.6 million years ago are the oldest remains found to date of
ancestors of the giant panda, a team of Spanish paleontologists said in an
article appearing in the journal PLOS ONE.
The team, headed by Juan Abella of the National Museum of Natural Sciences
in Madrid, includes researchers from the Catalan Institute of Paleontology
and several universities.
"The new genus we describe in this paper is not only the first bear recorded
in the Iberian Peninsula, but also the first of the giant panda's lineage,"
Abella said.
Kretzoiarctos is the name Abella and his colleagues have given the new genus.
The fossils have the characteristics of a bear adapted to a diet of tough
vegetation such as bamboo. Currently, the giant panda, which is native to
certain parts of China, is the only member of this peculiar bear family that
has a diet of this kind.
The position of the giant pandas on the evolutionary tree has been one of
the most intensely debated matters among biologists who study mammals and
paleontologists for more than a century.
The origin of the giant panda's genetic line has remained uncertain because
of the scarcity of records from the Miocene period。
Until recently, the article explained, the genus Ailuractos from the Late
Miocene in China, about 7-8 million years ago, was the oldest known member
of the panda family.
Giant Panda Fossils Found in Spain
Two fossilized mandibles and several teeth found in northeastern Spain
dating from 11.6 million years ago are the oldest remains found to date of
ancestors of the giant panda, a team of Spanish paleontologists said in an
article appearing in the journal PLOS ONE.
The team, headed by Juan Abella of the National Museum of Natural Sciences
in Madrid, includes researchers from the Catalan Institute of Paleontology
and several universities.
"The new genus we describe in this paper is not only the first bear recorded
in the Iberian Peninsula, but also the first of the giant panda's lineage,"
Abella said.
Kretzoiarctos is the name Abella and his colleagues have given the new genus.
The fossils have the characteristics of a bear adapted to a diet of tough
vegetation such as bamboo. Currently, the giant panda, which is native to
certain parts of China, is the only member of this peculiar bear family that
has a diet of this kind.
The position of the giant pandas on the evolutionary tree has been one of
the most intensely debated matters among biologists who study mammals and
paleontologists for more than a century.
The origin of the giant panda's genetic line has remained uncertain because
of the scarcity of records from the Miocene period。
Until recently, the article explained, the genus Ailuractos from the Late
Miocene in China, about 7-8 million years ago, was the oldest known member
of the panda family.
