New discovery of panda species which may have been Europe's last

A new species of panda was found in the forested wetlands of Bulgaria around six million years ago.

There are two fossils of teeth that were found in the bowels of the National Museum of Natural History in Bulgaria. It was not dependent on bamboo like the black and white bear.

"Although not a direct descendant of the giant panda, it is its close relative," explains the Museum's Professor Nikolai Spassov, whose findings are published today in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology.

The discovery shows how little we know about ancient nature and shows that historic discoveries in paleontology can lead to unexpected results.

The upper canine and upper carnassial tooth were added to the museum's collection when they were discovered in northwestern Bulgaria. The new species is named after him.

Professor Spassov recalls that they only had one label. It took me a long time to find out what the locality was. It took me a while to realize that this was a fossil giant panda.

The coal deposits in which the teeth were found suggest that the ancient panda lived in forested areas.

It may have eaten a mostly vegetarian diet, but not solely reliant on bamboo.

Fossils of the staple grass that sustains the modern panda are rare in the European, and they don't look strong enough to crush the stems.

Instead, it fed on softer plant materials, aligning with the general trend towards increased reliance on plants in this group's evolutionary history

Sharing their environment with other large predator likely drove the giant panda line towards vegetarianism.

Professor Spassov states that the competition between giant pandas and other bears may explain the closer food specialization of giant pandas to vegetable food.

According to the paper, A. nikolovi's teeth provided plenty of defense against predatory animals. The size of the canines is similar to that of the modern panda, suggesting that they were a little bit smaller.

The authors propose that the species may have become extinct as a result of climate change due to theMessinian salinity crisis.

Professor Spassov says that giant pandas are very special. The evolution of the fossil panda was related to the humid, wooded habitats in which it was found. The existence of the last European panda is thought to have been affected by climate change.

The Ailuropodini are a group of animals that are best known for their resemblance to the bears. Two possible pathways for the distribution of this group were proposed by the authors.

Professor Spassov cautions against the idea that the Ailuropodini is heading out of Asia and ending in Europe. The modern giant panda may have evolved from the early ones.

More information: Qigao Jiangzuo et al, A late Turolian giant panda from Bulgaria and the early evolution and dispersal of the panda lineage, Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology (2022). DOI: 10.1080/02724634.2021.2054718 Journal information: Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology