By James Pero For Dailymail.com
Published: 23:24 BST, 2 May 2019 | Updated: 23:28 BST, 2 May 2019
View
comments
Panda's may live on an almost exclusively plant-based diet, but according to new research, their nutrient intake looks more like a carnivores -- a finding that may help shed light on longstanding questions regarding the panda's dietary evolution.
In a study published in Current Biology, researchers found that the protein and carbohydrate content of Panda's diets is strikingly similar to that of 'hypercarnivores' -- a class of meat-eating animals that derives 70 percent of more of their food from eating other animals.
'As we know, the giant panda is a Carnivora species, yet extremely specialized on a plant food, the bamboo,' said Fuwen Wei of Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing who authored the study.
Pandas may come from carnivores but their diets don't reflect their heritage. New research shows that their nutrient intake does, however
'Based on what they eat, they absolutely belong to the herbivores, but considering the macronutrient composition of the ingested and absorbed diets, they belong to the carnivores.'
Additionally, while the panda species has some in common with herbivores, including a skull and jaw musculature that is more in line with fibrous plant-based diets -- also a so-called 'pseudo-thumb' which is adept at handling bamboo -- elements of their digestive tract and stomach enzymes mirror those of other carnivorous animals.
This could help explain mystery behind the modern panda's diet that has long confounded researchers.
Specifically, it would help shed light on how the animals, which come from a carnivorous class of creatures, made the transition from eating meat to dining almost exclusively on bamboo.
What was once thought to be a drastic
