Western red panda

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Western red panda
Red Panda (24960663871) .jpg

Western red panda ( Ailurus fulgens )

Systematics
Order : Predators (Carnivora)
Subordination : Canine (Caniformia)
Superfamily : Marten relatives (Musteloidea)
Family : Ailuridae
Genre : Little Pandas ( Ailurus )
Type : Western red panda
Scientific name
Ailurus fulgens
FG Cuvier , 1825

The western lesser panda ( Ailurus fulgens ), also known as the Himalayan cat-bear , is a medium-sized mammal from the genus of the small or red pandas ( Ailurus ) that occurs in Nepal, northeastern India and Bhutan, as well as southeastern Tibet.

features

Both types of small pandas reach head and trunk lengths of 50 to just over 70 cm, have a tail about 30 to 50 cm long and weigh 3 to 6 kilograms. The head is round, the muzzle is short. The fur on the back is chestnut brown, the belly, the front and rear legs are black. The soles of the paws are hairy. The females have eight teats. The western lesser panda has a smaller skull with a less arched forehead, a smaller zygomatic arch width, and more delicate teeth than Styan's lesser panda . The fur is a bit lighter and the winter fur is shorter (40 to 50 mm vs. 70 mm). The ringing of the tail is less pronounced and the face is less reddish than in Styan's Little Panda, often even more whitish than reddish with larger, not clearly defined white spots.

Pink - the distribution area of ​​the western lesser panda

Habitat and way of life

Western red panda

The western lesser panda occurs in Nepal, northeast India ( Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim ), Bhutan and southeast Tibet (circles Mêdog and Zayü ) in moderately tempered forests at altitudes of 1500 to 4800 meters. The westernmost area inhabited by the animals is the Mugu district in western Nepal, to the east the distribution area probably extends to the west bank of the Saluen .

The dominant trees in this area are evergreen deciduous trees and conifers, e.g. B. maples , oaks , horse chestnuts and walnut trees , as well as hemlocks and firs . In the south of the distribution area, the annual rainfall is 350 cm, further north at 130 cm per year. In the Indian Singalila National Park , the animals are particularly numerous at altitudes from 2800 to 3600 m. There are dense stands of bamboo and a closed canopy of leaves formed by tall trees. Other mammals that occur in the habitat of the Western pandas, who are Nepalese langur , the Himalayan musk deer , the Gray Goral , the Tibetan red deer , the spotted petaurista , the Dhole , the Asiatic , the Yellow-throated marten and the Leopard . Pheasant-like , thrushes and flycatchers are numerous among the birds .

In the Nepalese Langtang National Park , the territories of some more closely examined individuals were 1.02 to 9.62 km² in size. Bamboo is the panda's main food. The most important bamboo species for nutrition come from the genera Chimonocalamus , Phyllostachys and Thamnocalamus . Bamboo species with a high nutritional content, e.g. B. the candy cane bamboo ( Himalayacalamus falconeri ), and young shoots are preferred. Lichen, roots, small vertebrates, bird eggs and insects are also eaten.

Systematics

Styan's little panda

The little panda was first scientifically described in 1825 by the French zoologist Frédéric Cuvier and assigned to the small bears (Procyonidae). The Ailuridae family was introduced in 1843 by the British zoologist John Edward Gray . The position in an independent family was only confirmed by molecular systematic research. In 1902, the British zoologist Oldfield Thomas described Ailurus fulgens styani , a subspecies of the Sichuan lesser panda . The nominate form , for which Nepal was specified as Terra typica , became the subspecies Ailurus fulgens fulgens . In February 2020, a group of Chinese scientists spoke out in favor of giving both the nominate form ( i.e. the western lesser panda) and Styan's lesser panda the status of separate species. The two species were isolated from each other about 220,000 years ago as a result of glaciations in the penultimate glacial period ( Saale glacial period in Europe) and can be distinguished both genetically and morphologically and in terms of their coloration. The boundary between the distribution areas of both species could be the Saluen mountain river .

Danger

In India, the loss of habitat, followed by poaching, represents the greatest threat to the little panda. In addition to being exposed to the wild , the animals also repeatedly fall into traps that are set up to hunt wild boar , deer , goat-like game and monkeys. In India, the western lesser panda occurs in 20, in Nepal in 7 and in Bhutan in 5 protected areas.

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d Wei & Zhang (2009). Page 503.
  2. ↑ a b c Yibo Hu, Arjun Thapa, Huizhong Fan, Tianxiao Ma, Qi Wu, Shuai Ma, Dongling Zhang, Bing Wang, Min Li, Li Yan and Fuwen Wei. 2020. Genomic Evidence for Two Phylogenetic Species and Long-term Population Bottlenecks in Red Pandas. Science Advances. 6 (9); eaax5751. DOI: 10.1126 / sciadv.aax5751
  3. ^ Pocock, RI (1941) Fauna of British India, including Ceylon and Burma . Mammalia. - Volume 2. Taylor and Francis, Ltd., London. Page 258–264
  4. ^ Glover, AM (1938) The Mammals of China and Mongolia . New York: American Museum of Natural History. Pages 314-317.
  5. ↑ a b Ailurus fulgens & A. styani • Genomic Evidence for Two Phylogenetic Species and Long-term Population Bottlenecks in Red Pandas , Species new to Science from February 26, 2020
  6. ^ A b c d Miles S. Roberts and John L. Gittleman: Aliurus fulgens . In: Mammalian Species 222, 1984, p. 4. (Online as PDF )
  7. ↑ Wei & Zhang (2009). Page 499.
  8. ↑ Wei & Zhang (2009). Page 501.
  9. ^ E. Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire et al. Frédéric Cuvier: Histoire naturelle des mammifères avec des figures originales coloriées, dessinées d'après les animaux vivants. pt. 4, 5 (50): "Panda" 3 pp., 1 pl.
  10. ^ Thomas, O. (1902) On the Panda of Sze-chuen . Annals and Magazine of Natural History. Seventh Series. London: Taylor and Francis, Ltd. X: 251-252.
  11. ↑ Wei & Zhang (2009). Page 498.
  12. ↑ Gege Li: Red panda genes suggest there are actually two different species , on: New Scientist of February 26, 2020
  13. ↑ Daniel Lingenhöhl: Not one cat bear, but two on: Spektrum.de from February 28, 2020
  14. ↑ Anwaruddin Choudhury: An overview of the status and conservation of the red panda Ailurus fulgens in India, with reference to its global status . In: Flora & Fauna International (Ed.): Oryx . 35, No. 3, 2001, pp. 250-259. doi : 10.1046 / j.1365-3008.2001.00181.x .