Oldest Panda Fossils Found in Surprising Place

All giant pandas may come from China, but fossils reveal that the oldest known ancestor of the lineage dwelled in Spain, researchers say.

The giant panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) is known worldwide for its black-and-white fur. The giant panda is unique among bears for dining almost entirely on bamboo — other members of the bear family are omnivorous or mostly carnivorous.

Genetic evidence suggests the ancestors of giant pandas diverged from other bears 18 million to 22 million years ago. However, much remains uncertain about what early giant pandas were like and how this lineage of bears changed over time — before the new find, the earliest undisputed giant panda fossils recovered were about 8.2 million years old at most, and were from China.

Read on:  http://www.livescience.com/24788-oldest-panda-fossils.html