Giant Panda Placental Mammal By: Wil Crowson

Classification Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Mammalia Scientific Name: Ailuropoda melanoleuca Common Name: Giant Panda

Common Characteristics Giant Pandas show the evolutionary advantage of having hair and mammal glands. Mammals were the 1st animals on earth to show these traits. Symmetry: Bilateral Body cavity: Coelomate – all mammals have a full digestive system (tube within a tube) Type of organism: Free living omnivore terrestrial Giant Pandas all show cephalization with three body regions (head, thorax, and abdomen)

Life Cycle/Reproduction Average Lifespan (wild) 20 years average Average lifespan (captivity) Up to 35 years small groups of pandas share a large territory and sometimes meet outside the breeding season. They are mostly solitary within group also Breeding Interval Females are capable of breeding annually. (usually only breed every other year though) Breeding Season spring Number of Offspring 2 Gestation Period 95 to 160 days Birth Mass 3 to 5 ounces 1/900th the size of its mother Time to Weaning 8 to 9 months Age at Sexual or Reproductive Maturity 4 to 8 years of age

Habitat/Niche Habitat Niche/Food Habits Giant Pandas live in a few mountain ranges in central China: in Sichuan, Shaanxi, and Gansu provinces The Pandas live in broadleaf and coniferous forests with a dense under story of bamboo, at elevations between 5,000 and 10,000 feet. Torrential rains or dense mist throughout the year characterizes these forests, often shrouded in heavy clouds Niche/Food Habits A wild Giant Panda’s diet is almost exclusively (99%) bamboo. May eat other grasses and occasional small rodents or musk deer fawns.

Interesting Physical Traits Giant Pandas are about the size of a stick of butter when born They are able to grasp bamboo stems with the help of a "pseudo thumb," formed by an elongated and enlarged wrist bone covered with a fleshy pad of skin

Status The Giant Panda is listed as endangered. There are about 1,600 left in the wild. Nearly 300 Pandas live in zoos and breeding centers around the world, mostly in China. The WWF is currently working with the Chinese government: to create reserves for the Pandas making it easier for humans and Pandas to coexist

Interesting behavior Giant Pandas are the only bears that do not hibernate during the winter. When Pandas mark there territories they do a hand stand and whoever marks the highest wins. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FZjlVUG_APs

References http://nationalzoo.si.edu/Animals/GiantPandas/PandaFacts/default.cfm http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/giant-panda/ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FZjlVUG_APs http://wwf.panda.org/what_we_do/endangered_species/giant_panda/