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May 3 (UPI) – Today, pandas are largely feasting on a vegetarian diet dominated by bamboo, but they are descended from carnivores and their bodies still work that way, according to a new study.
Although the panda's diet is herbal, its protein and carbohydrate intake is more like a hypercarnivore, which consumes more than 70% of these nutrients by eating other animals.
The results were published Thursday in Current Biology.
"According to what they eat, giant pandas belong absolutely to herbivores – but given the macronutrient composition of ingested and absorbed foods, they could also belong to carnivores," said Fuwen Wei, a research scientist. at the Chinese Academy of Sciences. author, said in a press release.
Throughout their evolution, giant pandas have acquired herbivorous traits, such as jaw muscles, skull and teeth, which work well with diets rich in fiber. They also lost the ability to taste meat.
Over time, however, the animal has never lost its carnivorous gut. The stomach of the giant panda still has a digestive tract and the digestive enzymes of a meat eater.
About 50% of the energy that a panda absorbs comes from proteins. The researchers say that even panda milk looks like a carnivore.
"They are herbivores with regard to the foods they eat, but the diet's macronutrient mix looks more like a carnivore," said David Raubenheimer, a researcher at the University of Sydney.
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