The confluence of the Hengduan Mountains and the Qinling Mountains
At the confluence of the Hengduan Mountains and the Qinling Mountains in the hinterland of China, the terrain is very steep, the air is unusually thin, and in the dense bamboo bushes under the tall fir trees, there is a unique species that is unique in the world, that is, the giant panda. They have a black and white coat color, an innocent and thick appearance, and a unique charm all over the body.
Mischievous giant pandas
So what does the ancestors of pandas look like now? The ancestors of the panda did not eat bamboo, but it was a small man who ate meat. In the 1970s, paleontologists found the oldest direct ancestor of the giant panda in central Yunnan, that is, the first panda.
With precious giant panda fossils, we can finally restore the mysterious ancestors of giant pandas for the first time.
Fossil skull of the first panda
Fossils of the limbs of the first panda
First there is the skull, which is only a quarter the size of a modern panda, and then the limbs, which should be slimmer and more dexterous than modern pandas. Next, scientists even speculated about its coat color, an inconspicuous gray-black, looking a little ugly, how to look at it is not like the current national cute pet.
Restored first panda
Finally, according to paleobotanical evidence, even the vegetation environment and climatic characteristics of the time have been restored. It was a paradise of giant beasts eight million years ago, when the largest mammal in history lived in the northern part of the ancient Chinese continent, with a giant rhinoceros of more than five meters tall and weighing thirty tons, and in the middle lived a strong one-horned rhinoceros, which was the Lufeng ancient ape, which together with the strong saber-toothed tiger, the tall saber-toothed elephant, and the three-toed horse, the ancestor of the modern horse, formed the companion group of giant pandas eight million years ago.
Giant rhinoceros
One-horned rhinoceros
Lu Feng ancient ape
Saber-toothed tiger
Saber-toothed elephant
Three-toed horse
The first panda, which was divided from the ancestral bear, lived a discreet diaspora life here, with a longer tail and a slimmer body than the modern panda, and an adult individual only the size of a medium-sized domestic dog, which is a typical opportunist in the jungle.
Although it is very different from other bears, it is still mainly carnivorous, and the long drought in the forest is forcing the animals into the abyss of despair. The flames caused by lightning eventually caused a catastrophe, the arid forest was a little bit, the fire spread rapidly, many animals became victims of the fire, including the first panda, many survivors gathered to the edge of the swamp that was about to dry up.
Forest fires
It was here in the 1970s that paleontologists were lucky enough to find their precious fossil teeth in lignite seams formed from ancient swamps. The wilderness is dead, but our red pandas are quietly staying, lonely and still searching for food, and that's when they start feeding on grass.
Fossilized panda teeth
The first panda that eats herb
The dry wasteland finally ushered in a long-lost heavy rain, which was the key moment when the giant panda embarked on its evolutionary journey eight million years ago. The first panda, which is mainly carnivorous and has no physical and numerical advantages, miraculously escaped the disaster and survived.
The surviving panda
Welcome to follow the likes, walk with us into the cute pandas, into their stories. (Stay tuned for the next episode: "Panda Story 2: This dumpling is not simple, there was a small species of giant panda 2 million years ago")