Both giant and red pandas have adapted to an extremely specialized bamboo diet, which means important adaptations to their digestive systems. Bamboo is a tough, fibrous food that is difficult to digest. Pandas, with their digestive systems inherited from carnivores, have had to undergo some major...
The collection of behavioral data and the dietary assessment performed with the 18 S rRNA gene data allowed us to confirm temporal fluctuations of the gut microbiome correlate to dietary changes. We detected differentially abundant taxa for the rainy season, correlations of flower and fruit consump...
The classification of giant pandas has long been a subject of controversy. Anatomic, behavioral, and biochemical data have been used to place pandas with bears (family Ursidae), with raccoons (Procyonidae), or in a family of their own (Ailuridae). Improved molecular analyses made during the...