Three-dimensional Imaging of the Manipulating Apparatus in the Lesser Panda and the Giant Panda

Endo, Hideki; Hama, Natsuki; Niizawa, Nobuharu; Kimura, Junko; Itou, Takuya; Sakai, Takeo

doi:10.1007/978-4-431-76933-0_5

Cited by 5 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 14 publications

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“…Gittleman, 1994). Both feed almost entirely on bamboo and share a number of morphological specializations to this specialized diet, including broad cheek teeth, well‐developed zygomatic arches, a wide temporal fossa, powerful jaws with an extremely enlarged coronoid and an elongated wrist bone, the radial sesamoid, that functions as an opposable ‘thumb’ (Radinsky, 1981; Endo et al. , 2001a,b, 2008; Antón et al.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Shape at the cross‐roads: homoplasy and history in the evolution of the carnivoran skull towards herbivory

Figueirido

Serrano

Slater

et al. 2010

J of Evolutionary Biology

118

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Patterns of skull shape in Carnivora provide examples of parallel and convergent evolution for similar ecomorphological adaptations. However, although most researchers report on skull homoplasies among hypercarnivorous taxa, evolutionary trends towards herbivory remain largely unexplored. In this study, we analyse the skull of the living herbivorous carnivorans to evaluate the importance of natural selection and phylogenetic legacy in shaping the skulls of these peculiar species. We quantitatively estimated shape variability using geometric morphometrics. A principal components analysis of skull shape incorporating all families of arctoid carnivorans recognized several common adaptations towards herbivory. Ancestral state reconstructions of skull shape and the reconstructed phylogenetic history of morphospace occupation more explicitly reveal the true patterns of homoplasy among the herbivorous carnivorans. Our results indicate that both historical constraints and adaptation have interplayed in the evolution towards herbivory of the carnivoran skull, which has resulted in repeated patterns of biomechanical homoplasy.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Shape at the cross‐roads: homoplasy and history in the evolution of the carnivoran skull towards herbivory

Figueirido

Serrano

Slater

et al. 2010

J of Evolutionary Biology

118

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show abstract

“…fulgens has led some authors to conclude that, in the red panda lineage, the hypertrophy of this bone evolved completely independently from that of the giant panda (Endo et al 2007(Endo et al , 2008. However, such an inference is not supported by the morphology of the relatively large radial sesamoid of the extinct ailuropodine I. arctoides.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 84%

“…F marks the fossil specimens ossified tip and a clear contact between the radial sesamoid and the first metacarpal (Davis 1964;Endo et al 1996Endo et al , 1999cEndo et al , 2008Salesa et al 2006a, b). The configuration of the giant panda provides a more efficient grasp, not only due to the larger size of the radial sesamoid but also because of its different orientation (more medial instead of palmar), the ossification of the cartilaginous tip (giving the m. abductor digiti I brevis a more complete bony attachment, instead of inserting partly on a cartilage), and its articulation with the first metacarpal (thus resulting in a greater efficiency of to the pincerlike mechanism of the pseudo-thumb).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Tracing the origin of the panda’s thumb

Abellá

Pérez‐Ramos

Valenciano

et al. 2015

Sci Nat

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We investigate the relative development of the carnivoran radial sesamoids to untangle the evolution of this iconic structure. In the pandas (both giant and red), this 'false thumb' is known to perform a grasping role during bamboo feeding in both the red and giant pandas. An original locomotor role has been inferred for ailurids, but this remains to be ascertained for ursids. A large sample of radial sesamoids of Indarctos arctoides from the Miocene of Batallones-3 (Spain) indicates that this early ailuropodine bear displayed a relatively hypertrophied radial sesamoid, with a configuration more similar to that of the red panda and other carnivorans than to that of giant pandas. This false thumb is the first evidence of this feature in the Ursidae, which can be linked to a more herbivorous diet. Moreover, in the two extant pandas, the false thumb should not be interpreted as an anatomical convergence, but as an exaptive convergence regarding its use during the bamboo feeding, which changes the evolutionary view of this singular structure.

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“…Given that an in‐depth mastication increases the availability of plant cell contents and increases also particle surface area, this allows better digestion of food, which is crucial for pandas given their low‐quality diet and the limitations posed by their carnivoran gut. In addition, both pandas have an enlarged wrist bone, the radial sesamoid, which functions as an opposable ‘thumb’ and is used for manipulating bamboo stems (Endo et al ., , , , b , ; but see Salesa et al ., ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Geometric morphometrics shows differences and similarities in skull shape between the red and giant pandas

2011

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A morphometric analysis of the skull of the red or lesser panda, Aiulurus fulgens (Ailuridae), and the giant panda, Ailuropoda melanoleuca (Ursidae), was performed for evaluating the importance of natural selection and phylogenetic constraints in shaping the convergent morphological adaptations of these peculiar carnivores for feeding on bamboo. Principal components and discriminant analyses of landmark data was used in a comparative study across the families Procyonidae, Ursidae and Ailuridae. Skull morphospaces show that major patterns of morphological variation among these arctoid carnivorans correlate with differences in their feeding behavior. More specifically, this study has shown an extreme convergence in skull shape between the two bamboo specialists. Following the most recent molecular and morphological phylogenies, as well as the poor evidence from the fossil record, it seems highly improbable that homology could explain the shared morphology of the giant and red pandas, which lineages diverged ∼40 million years ago. On the contrary, most phylogenetic and paleontological data suggest that convergent or parallel evolution (homoplasy) would be the evolutionary process shaping the common morphological traits of these unusual carnivorans. Therefore, the overall resemblance in skull shape between the giant and red pandas was probably driven by extrinsic factors (natural selection and adaptation for feeding on bamboo) as well as by intrinsic ones (the shared developmental pathway of the carnivoran skull, which posed some biomechanical constraints on the direction of the evolution of pandas).

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Three-dimensional Imaging of the Manipulating Apparatus in the Lesser Panda and the Giant Panda

Cited by 5 publications

References 14 publications

Shape at the cross‐roads: homoplasy and history in the evolution of the carnivoran skull towards herbivory

Shape at the cross‐roads: homoplasy and history in the evolution of the carnivoran skull towards herbivory

Tracing the origin of the panda’s thumb

Geometric morphometrics shows differences and similarities in skull shape between the red and giant pandas

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