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Why are giant pandas considered carnivores? Then why are they mainly vegetarian now?
发布时间 : 2024-01-30
作者 : jumbo
访问数量 : 44
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At 1:48 pm on November 19, the heart of giant panda Tuantuan, who had lived in Taiwan for 14 years, stopped beating, which was heartbreaking!

Why are giant pandas considered carnivores? Then why are they mainly vegetarian now?

2004 Tuan Tuan, who was born in September, was only 18 years old when he died. Based on the average age of giant pandas of 25 years old, Tuan Tuan's age is equivalent to about 54 years old in humans.

According to news reports, Tuan Tuan’s remains will be made into specimens and his living cells will also be preserved. Moreover, Tuantuan's body will also undergo pathological anatomy, because its cause of death was brain lesions.

Experts say pathological autopsy will help to understand whether Tuantuan has hereditary diseases, so that we can pay attention to the condition of her two children Yuanbao and Yuanzai in advance.

Speaking of the giant panda, we have to mention that behind its innocent appearance, there is actually a heart of a ferocious beast. The giant pandas we see eating bamboo all day long actually ate meat in the past. They were real beasts.

In taxonomy, the giant panda belongs to the carnivorous family Ursidae, which means that it belongs to the same family as black bears, brown bears and polar bears. In the past few years, there were often reports of giant panda bites. They may remind people: I used to be an iron-eating beast!

Why are giant pandas considered carnivores? So why are they mainly vegetarian now? Come on, why are giant pandas said to be carnivores? And why do giant pandas that once ate meat now only eat bamboo? </p><p>Let’s look at the first question first: Why are giant pandas said to be carnivores? </p><p>First of all, the digestive system of giant pandas is more similar to that of carnivores. </p><p>The digestive tracts of herbivores are relatively long, usually more than ten times the length of their own bodies. This is because plant fiber foods are difficult to digest, and they need a longer digestive tract to digest plants. fiber, and they also have a longer cecum, where microorganisms break down plant fibers. </p><p>The digestive tract of carnivores is relatively short, usually several times the length of their own bodies, which is also related to their food. The food of carnivores has a higher content of protein, fat and other nutrients and does not require such a long intestine to absorb nutrients. Moreover, a shorter intestine is conducive to the rapid elimination of toxins. </p><p>Although today's giant pandas are vegetarians, their intestines are very short and very similar to carnivores. Moreover, most herbivorous ruminants have multiple stomach chambers, while giant pandas have only one stomach chamber. Such a simple stomach makes it difficult for giant pandas to fully digest and absorb plant cellulose. </p><p>In fact, bamboo only stays in the intestinal tract of giant pandas for 4 to 12 hours. Giant pandas now spend most of their time eating bamboo, but they occasionally add a little meat. </p><p style=Why are giant pandas considered carnivores? Then why are they mainly vegetarian now? Giant pandas have teeth designed to eat meat. There are usually three types of teeth in the mouths of mammals: incisors, canines and molars. Some of us humans have two small tiger teeth, which are actually canines, but have degenerated. </p><p>Carnivores not only have a full set of teeth, but the two pairs of molars they have have turned into guillotine-like shapes, called cleavage teeth, which are used to tear food. Herbivores generally do not have these two pairs of cleavage teeth. The giant panda not only has a full set of teeth, but also has split teeth specially used to tear meat. Therefore, from the perspective of teeth, the giant panda is also closer to a carnivore. </p><p>Let’s look at the second question: Why did giant pandas change from eating meat to being vegetarian? This actually has to do with climate change. </p><p>The ancestors of giant pandas used to live in the warm southern zone of the entire Southeast Asia region, which is roughly equivalent to the south of the Yangtze River today, all the way to Thailand and Vietnam in the Indochina Peninsula. However, the ancestors of giant pandas were not as big as today's giant pandas. They were smaller, about the same size as a fox. </p><p>In terms of food habits, the ancestors of giant pandas had a relatively mixed diet and ate everything. However, the proportion of plant foods was not high because their teeth were not well adapted to chewing plants at that time. However, the ancestors of giant pandas at that time could also eat some insects, birds and small mammals. </p><p>But when the climate changes and the weather becomes colder and colder, the forest area gradually becomes smaller, and there are fewer and fewer small animals in the forest. The bigger problem is that the severe cold has forced animals that originally lived in the north to move to the slightly warmer south. The arrival of new animals has made competition here fierce. </p><p>The ancestors of giant pandas were defeated in fierce competition, and they had to migrate to live in mountains where the number of animals was reduced. However, there is less food to eat in the mountains. Fortunately, the ancestors of giant pandas can also eat some plants to survive, so they slowly started to eat plants. </p><p>In order to better adapt to changes in feeding habits, the body structure of giant panda ancestors also began to undergo some changes. For example, their canine teeth became wider and more suitable for eating plants. Moreover, their bodies have become larger and rounder, far away from their previous thin and fox-like appearance. </p><p>In fact, there is no way for giant pandas to become obese, because the temperature in the mountains is relatively low, the nutritional content of plants is low, and the efficiency of digestion is also low. Giant pandas have evolved fatter and rounder bodies. , conducive to maintaining body temperature. </p><p>So, the giant pandas changed from eating meat to being vegetarian, mainly due to climate change. In order to better adapt to the harsh living environment, they evolved into a mainly vegetarian diet. </p><p style= Why are giant pandas considered carnivores?

But they are large animals? How does a panda use a digestive system originally belonging to a carnivore to digest bamboo, which accounts for 99% of its diet?

Scientists have discovered by studying the feces of giant pandas that there are some bacteria in the digestive tract of giant pandas that can help digest plant cellulose, and some of them are unique to giant pandas.

With the blessing of these special bacteria, giant pandas can use the digestive system of carnivores to well digest bamboo, which contains a large amount of plant cellulose. Moreover, when giant pandas eat bamboo, they often choose parts with higher nutritional content.

The digestive system and chewing system of giant pandas are closer to those of carnivores. However, in the past, their ancestors chose to retreat to the mountains and forests to eat plants because they could not compete with other carnivores. So the giant panda's body began to evolve in the direction of eating plants.

Why are giant pandas considered carnivores? Then why are they mainly vegetarian now?

But they are The structure capable of eating meat has not completely degenerated, so this naive guy who only eats bamboo all day longing for meat is actually very eager for meat, so it is not surprising that giant pandas bite people.

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