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AIluropoda melanoleuca

Alt Name:
giant panda
Location:
Anatomical Museum of Valladolid University (Spain)
Specimen ID:
Macho MAV 3156
Additional Media:
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This is a skull model of the giant panda, Ailuropoda melanoleuca, constructed from medical CT scan data for biomechanical simulations using finite element analysis. The giant panda is an endangered species with a limited geographic distribution in central and southern China.

Related Publication

Title:
A three-dimensional computer simulation of feeding behaviour in red and giant pandas relates skull biomechanics with dietary niche partitioning
Year:
2014
Authors:
Figueirido B, Tseng ZJ, Serrano-Alarcón FJ, Martín-Serra A, Pastor JF
Journal:
Biology Letters 10(4): 20140196. http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2014.0196
The red (Ailurus fulgens) and giant (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) pandas are mammalian carnivores convergently adapted to a bamboo feeding diet. However, whereas Ailurus forages almost entirely on younger leaves, fruits and tender trunks, Ailuropoda relies more on trunks and stems. Such difference in foraging mode is considered a strategy for resource partitioning where they are sympatric. Here, we use finite-element analysis to test for mechanical differences and similarities in skull performance between Ailurus and Ailuropoda related to diet. Feeding simulations suggest that the two panda species have similar ranges of mechanical efficiency and strain energy profiles across the dentition, reflecting their durophagous diet. However, the stress distributions and peaks in the skulls of Ailurus and Ailuropoda are remarkably different for biting at all tooth locations. Although the skull of Ailuropoda is capable of resisting higher stresses than the skull of Ailurus, the latter is able to distribute stresses more evenly throughout the skull. These differences in skull biomechanics reflect their distinct bamboo feeding preferences. Ailurus uses repetitive chewing in an extended mastication to feed on soft leaves, and Ailuropoda exhibits shorter and more discrete periods of chomp-and-swallow feeding to break down hard bamboo trunks.

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Giant Panda lateral view
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