Evolution of the Giant Panda

Ailuaractos Lufengensis (8 million years ago)

8 BCE

The primal pandas were the earliest known pandas, alive during the Miocene period. They are the ancestors of the Giant Panda.
The primal panda was said to resemble a fat fox.

Ailuropoda Microta (3 million years ago)

3 BCE

This species similar to the modern day panda was known to be an omnivore with partial reliance to bamboo. They appeared in the Pleistocene period around half of the size of the pandas today.

Ailuropoda Melanoleuca Wulishansis (500,000 years ago)

500

This panda specie's size became 1/8 larger that of the modern day panda due to their bamboo intake. The Pleistocene period was deemed the flourishing age of the great panda.

Ailuropoda melanoleuca (18,000 years ago)

18,000

This specie is what we know as the modern-day panda. From this time to the present, panda population has been declining since the birth of the species. There is an estimated population of 1,864 pandas. They are included in the IUCN red list. The modern pandas are often confused of having thumbs although this is actually a pad of skin.