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Sweet and small

R. KRITHIKA

Photo: AP

In contrast: Front view of a skull of the Ailuropoda microta and a giant panda skull.

The modern giant panda is over five feet long but its earliest known ancestor was just about three feet long, said researchers who announced the discovery of a skull belonging to the Ailuropoda microta or pygmy giant panda. So far research on the animal was based on few bone fragments and teeth. The skull is said to be about two million years old and studies of the teeth show that the ancient animal also fed on bamboo, which giant pandas still eat. There were no major anatomical differences between the ancient panda and the modern one said Russell L. Ciochon, anthropologist at the University of Iowa.

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