The nutrient intake of the giant panda that eats vegetables looks a lot like that of a carnivore

Panda may live on an almost exclusively plant-based diet, but new research suggests that their nutrient intake is more like a carnivore – a discovery that may help shed light on long-standing questions about evolution. of his diet.

In a study published in Current Biology, researchers found that the protein and carbohydrate content of Panda diets is strikingly similar to that of "hypercarnivores", a class of meat-eating animals of which 70% of food comes from the consumption of other animals. .

"As we know, the giant panda is a species of carnivore, but it is extremely specialized in a plant food, bamboo," said Fuwen Wei of the Beijing Chinese Academy of Sciences, author of the book. ;study.

Pandas can come from carnivores, but their diet does not reflect their heritage. New research shows that their nutrient intake

"After what they eat, they absolutely belong to the herbivores, but given the macronutrient composition of diets ingested and absorbed, they belong to carnivores."

In addition, although panda species have some common characteristics with herbivores, including skull and jaw musculature more in tune with fibrous plant-based diets – also called pseudo-thumb that can handle bamboo – the elements of their digestive tract and their gastric enzymes are similar to those of other carnivorous animals.

This could help explain the mystery behind the modern panda's diet that has long confused researchers.

Specifically, it would help to understand how animals, belonging to a class of carnivorous creatures, have moved from meat to consumption almost exclusively of bamboo.

According to new research, what we once thought was a leap in radical evolution is more of a nutritional step aside.

"The transition was probably more superficial than expected, combining substantial adaptation to new types of food and relatively less significant changes in macronutrient management," the researchers said.

Scientists note that despite the more superficial changes to the body and body of pandas, the organs associated with their diet have changed very little over time.

The study of pandas became particularly important because of vigorous conservation efforts that helped pebble populations recover from the threat

In addition to broadening the evolutionary understanding of pandas to biologists, scientists say the method also represents an important lesson for studying the dietary habits of animals.

"This study also contains a broader message," says David Raubenheimer, a nutritionist at the University of Sydney and involved in the study.

"This demonstrates the importance of taking into account both food and nutrients to understand the evolutionary ecology of animals. That's what nutritional geometry is designed to do.

The wild pandas, a long-threatened species, were downgraded to "vulnerable" in 2016, thanks to conservation efforts that increased the population by 17% in a decade.

Ecologists, however, hasten to note that the status of the panda is still at risk, especially because of the specter of climate change.

According to researchers, climate change threatens to eliminate much of the world's bamboo, which could once again be endangered by creatures.

What do you need to know about pandas?

When pandas are born, they are red and hairless. Their black and white coat begins to grow only around the age of six months.

Most small pandas are born in June, July and August.

At birth, the baby panda is hairless and pink. He begins to have a black and white coat around the age of six months.

A teddy bear usually weighs between 100 and 200 grams at birth. At the Chengdu Panda Breeding Chinese Research Base in Chengdu, when a panda is born with excess weight, special care will be taken by the guards.

A baby panda is fed with his mother's breast milk. He starts eating solid foods, such as bamboo, when he reaches the age of one year.

Cubs do not open their eyes before the age of six to eight weeks and are not mobile before three months.

Baby pandas are born with soft nails that will become thick and hard forceps.

At the age of five to seven months, the young are ready to climb trees.

Source: Chengdu Research Base on Giant Panda Breeding, Daily People, San Diego Zoo