Bear or Raccoon? The Debate was a Long One

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

When European scientist Pere Armand David, a French missionary and naturalist, became the first Westerner to see a Panda, he christened it Ursus melanoleucus (black and white bear). After examining bones and teeth of the animal, however, Paris Natural History Museum Professor Alphonse Milne-Edwards reclassified it Ailuropoda melanoleuca (black and white panda foot) - a raccoon. Thus began a scientific debate that lasted late into the twentieth century.

In the mid-1980s, a team of geneticists headed by Stephen J. O’Brien, co-chairman of the International Committee on Comparative Gene Mapping, conducted a series of tests on giant panda and bear DNA showed that the panda was genetically closer to a bear than a raccoon. There are still some that believe that the panda belongs in its own category.

Interesting

Look at the little face on the panda - love love love x

so cute.

pandas are beautiful ....

they seem mystical x

Anyone seen the Panda's in Edinburgh?

I'm hoping to have a trip down sometime soon, all the hype regarding them last year did get on my nerves a bit though!

Would much rather visit to see all the Canine species like The African hunting dogs or Manned wolves

Not yet but working on Nigel taking me to see them x