Giant Panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) Fact Sheet: Taxonomy & History

Taxonomy

• Currently recognized as 1 species with genetic differences (Swaisgood, Wang, et al. 2016)
  • Qinling Mountains population is genetically distinct (B. Zhang, Li, et al. 2007; Swaisgood, Wang, et al. 2016)
  • Also see Population structure

Nomenclature

• Genus: Ailuropoda
  • Refers to how the panda’s feet help it eat bamboo (Schaller 1994; Garshelis 2009a)
• Species: melanoleuca
  • Refers to the panda’s black-and-white coloration (Schaller 1994)

Synonyms

• Ursus melanoleucus David, 1869 (Milne-Edwards 1870; Fox 1949; Swaisgood, Wang, et al. 2016; ITIS 2024)

Classification

• Much debated in the past (Chorn and Hoffman 1978)—but giant pandas are now firmly known to be bears (Family Ursidae) (Garshelis 2009a)
  • For a time, incorrectly placed in Procyonidae (tree-climbing mammals related to bears, such as racoons) (Binida-Emonds 2004)
  • Giant panda and red pandas have some similar characteristics, but belong to different families (O’Brien et al. 1985; Wei and Zhang 2009; Swaisgood et al. 2020)
    • Giant panda: Ursidae (bears); red panda: Ailuridae (red pandas and their extinct relatives)
    • Similar traits include a thumb-like digit for eating bamboo (Hu et al. 2017; Swaisgood et al. 2020)
      • Example of convergent evolution—two animals evolve similar characteristics but are not closely related (Allaby 2020)

Common names

• Chinese
  • Da xióngmāo (Chinese) (Dolan 1987; Swaisgood et al. 2020)
    • Means "large bear cat" (Schaller 1994; Garshelis 2009b)
  • Beishung (Chinese) (Dolan 1987; Croke 2005)
• Other languages
  • Giant panda, panda bear, great panda, parti-colored bear, bamboo bear, white bear (English) (Lumpkin and Seidensticker 2002; ITIS 2024)
    • From French word “panda,” which may be derived from a Nepalese or Nepalese–Tibetan term that refers to how pandas eat bamboo (Oxford English Dictionary 2023)
  • Panda géant, ours panda (French) (Garshelis 2009b; Swaisgood, Wang, et al. 2016; Swaisgood et al. 2020)
  • Panda gigante (Spanish) (Swaisgood, Wang, et al. 2016; Swaisgood et al. 2020)
  • Panda, panda gigante (Italian) (Swaisgood et al. 2020)
  • Bambusbär, Großer Panda, Riesenpanda (German) (Garshelis 2009b; Swaisgood et al. 2020)
    • Bambusbär literally means “bamboo bear”

Fossil history and evolutionary relationships

• Today’s giant panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) is a descendant of similar extinct giant pandas—species traced back to the Miocene (Qiu and Qi 1989; Hunt 2004; Jin et al. 2007; Swaisgood et al. 2020)
• Ancestors split into 2 lineages (Hunt 2004; Jiangzuo and Spassov 2022)
• European cluster
• Agriarctos
• Southeastern Asia cluster
• Ailurarctos (Hu 1984; Qiu and Qi 1989)
• Later became Ailuropoda
• Genus Ailuropoda
• Ailurarctos lufengensis
• Fossils date to approximately 7 to 8 mya (Qui and Qi 1989; Hunt 2004)
• Ailuropoda microta
• Fossils date to approximately 2 to 2.5 mya (Jin et al. 2007)
• Smaller than today’s giant panda (Figueirido et al. 2011)
• Skull and teeth indicate a bamboo diet—but less specialized adaptations than those found in today’s panda (Figueirido et al. 2011)
• Ailuropoda baconi (or Ailuropoda melanoleuca baconi)
• Fossils date to approximately 0.7 mya (Jin et al. 2007)
• Slightly larger than today’s giant panda (eg, Hu et al. 2022)
• Bamboo specialization
• Earliest adaptations for a bamboo diet approximately 6 to 7 mya (late Pliocene or early Pleistocene) (eg, Jin et al. 2007; X. Wang et al. 2022; also see D. Wang et al. 2022)
• Lost ability to taste protein-rich foods slightly earlier (caused by genetic changes) (Li et al. 2010)
• May have aided switch to a plant-based diet (Zhao et al. 2010)
• Flat molars for grinding bamboo (eg, Hunt 2004)
• An early panda ancestor, Kretzoiarctos beatrix, thought to have been omnivorous, similar to extant bear species that eat both plants and meat (Kargopoulos et al. 2024)

Closest extant (living) relatives

• Andean bear, Tremarctos ornatus (Swaisgood et al. 2020)

Archaeology

• In 2021, Chinese archaeologists discovered the first, fully intact giant panda skeleton (Li 2023; Solly 2023)
  • Found in the tomb of Han Emperor Wen (died 157 BCE), alongside many other sacrificed animals (Li 2023; Solly 2023)

• Other panda remains in ancient tombs date to about 4,000 years old (Archaeology News 2005)

Culture

• Ancient Chinese literature
  • Pandas not prominently featured in ancient Chinese cultural works—or perhaps only in early dynasties (Lumpkin and Seidensticker 2002; Liu et al. 2016 citing Songster 2004)
    • Gained popularity in modern times, 19^th and 20^th centuries (Lumpkin and Seidensticker 2002)
  • Multiple Chinese writings refer to a black-and-white animal—a few over 4,000 years old (Wu 2010a; Hull and Liu 2016 citing Hu 2001)
    • Many names given
  • 2,700 years ago
    • Panda-like animal called a “Pi” described in the first Chinese book on geology Classic of Mountains and Seas (Wu 2010a)
  • Mentioned in the Shijing (Book of Songs) (Zhou Dynasty, 1100 to 256 BC) (Dolan 1987)
• Symbolism
  • Ancient China
    • Pandas were status symbols; associated with ruling nobility (Lumpkin and Seidensticker 2002; Hull and Liu 2016)
      • Held in emperor’s menagerie-type gardens
      • Pelts (furs) given as gifts, to be used as rugs or for bedding
    • Also became a symbol of peace and friendship (as early as 3rd century AD) (Hull and Liu 2016)
      • Pandas admired for killing no other animals and living peacefully alongside their neighbors (Hull and Liu 2016)
  • Recent decades
    • Today, one of the “most recognized and adored species,” worldwide (Swaisgood et al. 2020)
    • Beloved symbol of national pride in China (Lumpkin and Seidensticker 2002; Ma et al. 2016)
      • Deemed a "national treasure" in the 1970s by China's Ministry of Forestry (Songster 2018)
      • Pandas represent Chinese culture at Olympic Games, on postage stamps, etc. (eg, Li 2010; Zhang 2010)
    • Panda’s image often used in art, advertising, and organizational branding (Lü and Kemf 2001; F. Wei et al. 2018)
      • Longtime brand icon of the World Wildlife Fund (Lü and Kemf 2001; Li 2011)
        • Used since WWF’s founding in 1961 (2011)

Giant pandas in recent history

• Prior to 1800s
  • Giant panda not known outside of China until China opened to western trade in the 1800s (Ellis et al. 2012)
• 1869
  • On an expedition to China, French missionary and naturalist Père Armand David encountered the giant panda (Fox 1949; Morris and Morris 1966; Wu 2010b)
    • Sent descriptions and specimens to colleagues at the Natural History Museum in Paris, making the giant panda known to Europeans for the first time (Morris and Morris 1966; Dolan 1987; Wu 2010b)

• 1870
  • A French zoological article published the name “giant panda” for the first time (Milne-Edwards 1870; Wu 2010a)
    • Père David correctly categorized pandas as bears, instead of racoon relatives (Milne-Edwards 1870; Fox 1949)
      • See Taxonomy
• 1920s and 1930s
  • Members of hunting expeditions make early observations of wild pandas (Schaller et al. 1985; Ellis et al. 2012; Hull and Liu 2016 citing Hu 2001)
    • 1920s: giant panda was “the Holy Grail” of big-game hunting (Lumpkin and Seidensticker 2002)
      • Few hunters managed to kill pandas, due to their remote habitats, camouflage, and overall rarity (Dolan 1987; Lumpkin and Seidensticker 2002)
      • But some incidents, such of a panda shot by the sons of President Theodore Roosevelt, received much public attention (Sheldon 1975; Lumpkin and Seidensticker 2002)

• 1936: Cub Su Lin was first living panda to reach any country in the West (Harkness 1938; Dolan 1987; Schaller 1994; Lumpkin and Seidensticker 2002; Hull and Liu 2016)
  • Brought to the United States by American socialite and fashion designer Ruth Harkness (Harkness 1938; Schaller 1994; Wu 2010b; Liu et al. 2016)
  • Press coverage created a “public frenzy” (Lumpkin and Seidensticker 2002)
  • 40,000 people visited Su Lin the first day at Chicago’s Brookfield Zoo, stoking global attention (Lumpkin and Seidensticker 2002; Wu 2010b; Liu et al. 2016)
  • Much memorabilia: plush toys, jewelry, books (Lumpkin and Seidensticker 2002)
  • According to Lumpkin and Seidensticker (2002), Su Lin’s popularity ended killing giant pandas for sport—but local hunters captured live pandas to meet increased zoo demand in Western countries
  • For further reading, see The Lady and the Panda by Vicki Constantine Croke (2005) and The Baby Giant Panda by Ruth Harkness (1938)
  • 1939: Pandora, a female panda acquired by the Bronx Zoo in 1938, became a major attraction at World’s Fair in New York (Dolan 1987)

• 1940s
  • Scientists in China began scientific observations of pandas in wild populations (Schaller et al. 1985; Lü and Kemf 2001)
  • 1941: China gives 2 pandas to the Bronx Zoo as a diplomatic gift; early “panda diplomacy” (sign of international cooperation and friendship) (Morris and Morris 1966; see Songster 2018)
  • ca. 1949: export of live pandas stops, with the Cultural Revolution and formation of the People’s Republic of China (Lumpkin and Seidensticker 2002; Ellis et al. 2012)
• 1950s and 1960s
  • Giant panda becomes a symbol of national pride for China (Liu et al. 2016 citing Songster 2004)
    • Pandas gifted as diplomatic gifts between 1965 and 1982 (Dolan 1987; Songster 2018)
    • After 1981, short-term loans to zoos began, which helped to fund panda conservation programs in China (Lumpkin and Seidensticker 2002)
  • 1950s
    • First giant pandas in a Chinese zoo (Beijing Zoo in 1955) (Lumpkin and Seidensticker 2002; Songster 2018)
    • Ban on importing pandas to the U.S., in response to Cold War-era concerns about communism (Songster 2018)
  • 1963: first giant panda born in a zoo (Beijing Zoo) (Dolan 1987; Lumpkin and Seidensticker 2002)
• 1972
  • President Richard Nixon and Chairman Mao Zedong arrange a gift of 2 giant pandas to the U.S., and the U.S. gifted China 2 musk oxen (Lumpkin and Seidensticker 2002; Songster 2018)
    • Pandas welcomed to Washington D.C.’s National Zoo by the First Lady, and many government officials and dignitaries (Songster 2018)
    • Ling-Ling and Hsing-Hsing lived at the National Zoo for 26 years (Lumpkin and Seidensticker 2002; Liu et al. 2016)
• 1980s
  • China ends its panda-gifting program, in favor of a loan program (Songster 2018)
• 1998
  • San Diego Zoo hosted its first 2 pandas, Shi Shi and Bai Yun (Lumpkin and Seidensticker 2002)
• Also see History of Conservation Efforts
• Also see SDZWA History

Books

• Adult literature
  • The Lady and the Panda: The True Adventures of the First American Explorer to Bring Back China’s Most Exotic Animal by Vicki Constantine Croke (2005)
  • Smithsonian Book of Giant Pandas by Susan Lumpkin and John Seidensticker (2002)
  • The Last Panda by George B. Schaller (1993)
  • See Bibliography for scientific titles

• Children’s literature
  • Oh, Panda by Cindy Derby (2023)
  • Bei Bei Goes Home: A Panda Story by Cheryl Bardoe (2022)
  • Baby Panda Chews Bamboo by Ben Richmond (2018)
  • Little Panda: The World Welcomes Hua Mei at the San Diego Zoo by Joanne Ryder (2004)
  • The Visit of Two Giant Pandas at the San Diego Zoo by Georganne Irvine (1991)

Television and film

• Documentary films
  • Pandas: Born to be Wild (2020) — PBS Nature
  • Born in China (2015) — Disneynature
  • Pandas: The Journey Home Trailer (2014) — National Geographic
• Entertainment films
  • Trail of the Panda (2011) — Disney
  • Kung Fu Panda franchise (first film released in 2008 by DreamWorks Animation)
  • The Amazing Panda Adventure (1995) — Lee Rich Productions

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Chordata

Class: Mammalia Linnaeus, 1758 — mammals

Order: Carnivora Bowdich, 1821 — carnivores

Family: Ursidae G. Fischer von Waldheim, 1817 — bears

Genus: Ailuropoda A. Milne-Edwards, 1870 — giant panda, panda bear

Species: Ailuropoda melanoleuca (David, 1869) — giant panda, panda bear, great panda, parti-colored bear, bamboo bear, white bear

Sources: Swaisgood, Wang, et al. (2016); ITIS (2024)

The Chinese characters for Giant Panda translate to "large bear cat."