The first discovery of Holocene Ailuropoda melanoleuca subfossils from Xiangxi, Hunan, China
Received date: 2025-01-20
Online published: 2025-05-12
Copyright
A new cranium and two mandibles of Ailuropoda melanoleuca from Xiangxi, Hunan Province are described here. The materials were discovered in a karst cave on the Bamian Mountain at an altitude of 1200 m, with AMC carbon-fourteen isotope dating indicating an age of 2800±30 BP. Historically, the giant panda was widely distributed in southern China and parts of Southeast Asia during the Pleistocene epoch, but it is now confined and isolated to six mountain ranges in southwest China's Sichuan, Shaanxi, and Gansu provinces. The subfossil materials reported here represent the first discovery of the living species of giant panda in Xiangxi, Hunan. This extends their geographical distribution in southern China during the Holocene epoch eastward to the eastern edge of the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau and their recent altitude range down to 1200 m.
Key words： Xiangxi, Hunan; Bamian Mountain; Holocene; Ailuropoda melanoleuca
TONG Guang-Hui , LIU Li , LI Yong-Xiang , WANG Wen-Zhe , CAI Xing-Lin . The first discovery of Holocene Ailuropoda melanoleuca subfossils from Xiangxi, Hunan, China[J]. Vertebrata Palasiatica, 2025 , 63(3) : 242 -247 . DOI: 10.19615/j.cnki.2096-9899.250511
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