European panda: the newest specimen discovered

Researchers have discovered this new species, the european pandathanks to two fossil teeth preserved in the Bulgarian Natural History Museum. The size of the animal is comparable to today’s famous black and white bear. Even if his diet is not based solely on bamboo. It has an upper butcher’s stand and an upper canine tooth that were originally cataloged by Ivan Nikolov, a paleontologist. Then added to the museum’s collection of fossils excavated in Bulgaria. The new species was named Agriarctos Nikolovi in ​​honor of the scholar.

The coal deposits, where the teeth were found, suggest that the ancient panda lived in forested and swampy areas. He had one then vegetarian diet. Its coexistence with other predators certainly pushed him toward vegetarianism. The teeth of the A. Nikolovi represented a broad defense against predators. The study’s authors think the panda is extinct in front of climate changes. The reason may be due to the “Messinian Salt Crisis”. An event in which the Mediterranean basin dried up, significantly altering the surrounding terrestrial environments.

Giant pandas are a highly specialized group of bears. Climate change at the end of the Miocene in southern Europe, which led to desiccation, probably had a negative effect on the existence of the last European panda.

Nikolai Spassov, researcher of the study

The ancient group of animals is known for its only living representative, namely the big panda. In the past, the animal inhabited Europe and Asia. Thus, the development of the species could have developed in Europe and later ended up in Asia. Here the ancestors of another species dispersed, ailur arctos. Then the next evolution in theailuropodathe modern giant panda.