Ailuropoda microta is the earliest known member of the genus Ailuropoda, which includes the living giant panda. It is the smallest and most primitive member of the genus, with an estimated body mass of around 70 kilograms (150 lb). It measured 1 m (3 ft) in length; the modern giant panda grows to a size in excess of 1.5 m (5 ft). The discovery of a nearly complete skull of A. microta in Guangxi, China, revealed cranial and dental features intermediate between earlier panda ancestors such as Ailuractos and the living giant panda. The shape of its cheek teeth indicates that like the living giant panda they were adapted for herbivory, but the cheek tooth morphology is relatively simple in comparison to the progressively increasingly complex cheek tooth morphology of later Ailuropoda species, including its direct successor Ailuropoda wulingshanensis. A herbivorous diet for A. microta has been confirmed by isotopic analysis. Wear patterns on its teeth has let to suggestions that it lived on a diet of bamboo, the primary food of the giant panda. However, due its small size, less complex cheek teeth and less powerful jaw muscles has led to suggestions that it may have only consumed leaves, shoots and fruits of bamboo, rather than the highly fibrous stems like living giant panda.