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Ailuridae is a family in the mammal order Carnivora. The family consists of the red panda (the sole living representative) and its extinct relatives. Georges Cuvier first described Ailurus as belonging to the raccoon family in 1825; this classification has been controversial ever since. [1]
Range of the red panda. The red panda ( Ailurus fulgens ), also known as the lesser panda, is a small mammal native to the eastern Himalayas and southwestern China. It has dense reddish-brown fur with a black belly and legs, white-lined ears, a mostly white muzzle and a ringed tail.
- Appearance
- Physical characteristics
- Behavior
- Biology
- Taxonomy
- Description
- Distribution and habitat
- Diet
- Breeding
- Reproduction
- Adaptations
- Life cycle
Red pandas can be easily identified by their unique ruddy coat color, which acts like camouflage within the canopy of fir trees where branches are covered with clumps of reddish-brown moss and white lichens.
They have large, round heads and short snouts with big, pointed ears. Their faces are white with reddish-brown tear marks that extend from the eyes to the corner of the mouth. These markings could have evolved to help keep the sun out of their eyes. Their tails are marked with alternating red and buff rings. Red pandas have a soft, dense woolly und...
Red pandas scent-mark territories using anal glands and urine, as well as scent glands located between their footpads. These scent glands on the bottom of red pandas feet exude a colorless liquid that is odorless to humans. The red panda tests odors using the underside of its tongue, which has a cone-like structure for collecting liquid and bringin...
In contrast with other carnivores their size, red pandas have extremely robust dentition. They also have a simple carnivore stomach, despite their predominantly leaf-based diet. Red pandas share the giant pandas pseudo-thumb, a modified wrist bone used to grasp bamboo when feeding.
Red pandas are the only living member of the Ailuridae family, and their taxonomic position has long been a subject of scientific debate. They were first described as members of the raccoon family (Procyonidae)a controversial classificationin 1825, because of ecological characteristics and morphological similarities of the head, dentition and ringe...
Adult red pandas typically weigh about 8.8 to 13.3 pounds (4 to 6.5 kilograms) and are 22 to 24.6 inches (56 to 62.5 centimeters) long, plus a tail of 14.6 to 18.6 inches (370 to 472 centimeters).
Red pandas range from northern Myanmar (Burma) to the west Sichuan and Yunnan Provinces of China. They are also found in suitable habitat in Nepal, India and Tibet. The Ailurus fulgens fulgens subspecies is found in Nepal, northeastern India, Bhutan and part of China, while the Ailurus fulgens styani subspecies is found in China and northern Myanma...
Bamboo constitutes 85 to 95 percent of the red panda's diet. Unlike giant pandas that feed on nearly every above-ground portion of bamboo (including the culm, or woody stem), red pandas feed selectively on the most nutritious leaf tips and, when available, tender shoots. Like giant pandas, red pandas grasp plant stems using their forepaws and shear...
In the Northern Hemisphere, red pandas breed from January through March. In the Southern Hemisphere, breeding season extends from June through August. The rapid change in photoperiod, or day length, after the winter solstice initiates this breeding season.
Mating occurs on the ground, and gestation appears to include a period of delayed implantation, which may be as short as 93 days or as long as 156 days. Reproduction expends a great deal of energy, so it is believed that a long gestation period may be the result of a slow metabolic rate. Late spring births also coincide with the emergence of the mo...
This adaptation allows red pandas to spend nearly as little energy as sloths, which is very beneficial considering the low nutrition content of their diet. They also exhibit temperature-regulating behaviors, such as curling into a tight ball to conserve body heat and energy expenditure in the cold. Conversely, when temperatures are warm, red pandas...
Red pandas may live as long as 23 years. They show symptoms of age at around 12 to 14 years old. While females do not breed after age 12, males continue to be reproductively capable.
Apr 19, 2024 · Once classified as a relative of the giant panda, it is now usually classified as the sole member of the family Ailuridae. See why the red panda is classified as the only member of the Ailuridae family. Learn about the red panda (Ailurus fulgens). See all videos for this article.
- The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
The red panda ( Ailurus fulgens) is a mammal. It is the only species of the Ailuridae family. There are two subspecies: Ailurus fulgens fulgens and Ailurus fulgens styani. It is also known as lesser panda, cat-bear, bear-cat and firefox .
Introduction. Ailuridae Gray, 1843, is a monotypic family consisting of a single genus with one species, the red (or lesser) panda, Ailurus fulgens F.G. Cuvier, 1825, and its fossil relatives.
