‘Amazing development’: fossil finds show how panda’s false thumb evolved

The mystery of the panda's false thumb has been solved by the discovery of ancient fossils.

Scientists believe that the transition from omnivores to bamboo-munching vegetarians was influenced by the thumb-like sixth digit on the giant panda's wrists.

pandas can crush bamboo stems into bite-size pieces and fuel their appetite with the help of the radial extra digit.

The false thumb of the panda has been known for more than 100 years, but there is no evidence of when it evolved.

The Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County'sXiaoming Wang wrote in Scientific Reports about the mystery. The false thumb found in the fossils of an ancient panda suggests that it was once larger than the ones we see today.

The oldest known evidence for the unusual digit is the fossils of an extinct panda relative called Ailurarctos.

The evolutionary pressure of needing to walk on their hands as well as handle bamboo has kept modern pandas short and strong, according to an associate professor.

The panda had to overcome a lot of obstacles to evolve from a meat eater to a bamboo eater. He said that an opposablethumb from a wrist bone was the most amazing development against these hurdles.

An Ailurarctos arm bone, teeth, and false thumb were discovered by the researchers. The oldest evidence of the thumb-like structure was found in the fossils of the modern panda. The modern panda has a hook on its false thumb, which may help it grasp bamboo.

The panda eats mostly vegetarian but occasionally eats small animals. A panda eats up to 14 hours a day, consuming up to 40 kilogrammes of bamboo a day as an adult.