A GIANT panda fossil, dating back over 100,000 years, has been uncovered in the longest cave in Asia in Guizhou, China, said researchers today.

Guizhou Academy of Sciences researchers found two fossils of the species in Shuanghe Cave, Zunyi, reported Xinhua.

It reported that one of the fossils indicates a wild giant panda that lived about 102,000 years ago, while the other indicates a similar species that lived about 49,000 years ago.

Research assistant Wang Deyuan said it is rare to discover such well-preserved giant panda fossils anywhere.

Evidence of radial sesamoid bones has also been discovered in the fossils, in the latest joint scientific research with foreign experts.

As giant pandas use thumbs to hold and manipulate bamboo when eating, their limbs are different from other bears’, with an extra “thumb” – an abnormally enlarged wrist bone that helps the species grasp bamboo shoots.

Wang said this discovery reflects that giant pandas then had the physiological conditions of using forepaws flexibly to grab bamboos like pandas now, adding that it deepens the understanding of feeding characteristic evolution.

Shuanghe Cave was a suitable habitat for giant pandas at the time due to its complex internal structure and series of holes, according to Xinhua.

So far, almost 30 giant panda fossils have been discovered in there.

The cave is rich in mammal fossil resources, with fossils of black bears, jackals, rhinoceroses, stegodons, large Indian civets, among others, having been found in previous excavations. – Bernama, December 8, 2021.