The red panda was
described and named in 1825 by
Frederic Cuvier, who gave it its
scientific name Ailurus fulgens. Cuvier's description was based on
zoological specimens, including skin, paws, jawbones and teeth "from the mountains north of India", as well as an account by
Alfred Duvaucel. The red panda was described earlier by
Thomas Hardwicke in 1821, but his paper was only published in 1827. In 1902,
Oldfield Thomas described a skull of a male red panda specimen under the name
Ailurus fulgens styani in honour of
Frederick William Styan who had collected this specimen in
Sichuan.
DNA sequencing of 132 red panda faecal samples collected in
Northeast India and China also showed two distinct clusters indicating that the
Siang (Brahmaputra) River constitutes the boundary between the Himalayan and Chinese red pandas. They probably diverged due to
glaciation events on the southern
Tibetan Plateau in the
Pleistocene.
Phylogeny The placement of the red panda on the
evolutionary tree has been debated. In the early 20th century, various scientists placed it in the
family Procyonidae with
raccoons and their allies. At the time, most prominent biologists also considered the red panda to be related to the giant panda, which would eventually be found to be a
bear. A 1982 study examined the similarities and differences in the skull between the red panda and the giant panda, other bears and procyonids, and placed the species in its own family
Ailuridae. The author of the study considered the red panda to be more closely related to bears. A 1995
mitochondrial DNA analysis revealed that the red panda has close affinities with procyonids. Further genetic studies in 2005, 2018 and 2021 have placed the red panda within the
clade Musteloidea, which also includes Procyonidae,
Mustelidae (
weasels and relatives) and
Mephitidae (
skunks and relatives). }} |1= }} |1= }} }}
Fossil record '', a large carnivorous early relative of the modern red panda|alt=Drawing of a skull (above) and head (below) of an extinct animal The family Ailuridae appears to have evolved in Europe in either the
Late Oligocene or
Early Miocene, about . The earliest member
Amphictis is known from its skull and may have been around the same size as the modern species. Its
dentition consists of sharp premolars and
carnassials (P4 and m1) and
molars adapted for grinding (M1, M2 and m2), suggesting that it had a generalised
carnivorous diet. Its placement within Ailuridae is based on the grooves on the side of its
canine teeth. Other early or
basal ailurids include
Alopecocyon and
Simocyon, whose fossils have been found throughout Eurasia and North America dating from the
Middle Miocene, the latter of which survived into the
Early Pliocene. Both have similar teeth to
Amphictis and thus had a similar diet. The
puma-sized
Simocyon was likely a tree-climber and shared a "false thumb"—an extended wrist bone—with the modern species, suggesting the appendage was an adaptation to
arboreal locomotion and not to feed on
bamboo. Later and more
advanced ailurids are classified in the subfamily Ailurinae and are known as the "true" red pandas. These animals were smaller and more adapted for an
omnivorous or
herbivorous diet. The earliest known true panda is
Magerictis from the Middle Miocene of Spain and known only from one tooth, a lower second molar. The tooth shows both ancestral and new characteristics having a relatively low and simple
crown but also a lengthened crushing surface with developed
tooth cusps like later species. Later ailurines include
Pristinailurus bristoli which lived in eastern North America from the late Miocene to the Early Pliocene and species of the genus
Parailurus which first appear in Early Pliocene Europe, spreading across Eurasia into North America. These animals are classified as a
sister taxon to the lineage of the modern red panda. In contrast to the herbivorous modern species, these ancient pandas were likely omnivores, with highly cusped molars and sharp
premolars. The earliest fossil record of the modern genus
Ailurus dates no earlier than the
Pleistocene and appears to have been limited to Asia. The modern red panda's lineage became adapted for a specialised bamboo diet, having molar-like premolars and more elevated cusps. The full
genome of the red panda was sequenced in 2017. Researchers have compared it to the genome of the giant panda to learn the genetics of
convergent evolution, as both species have false thumbs and are adapted for a specialised bamboo diet despite having the digestive system of a carnivore. Both pandas show modifications to certain limb development genes (
DYNC2H1 and
PCNT), which may play roles in the development of the thumbs. In switching from a carnivorous to a herbivorous diet, both species have reactivated taste receptor genes used for detecting
bitterness, though the specific genes are different. ==Description==