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Looking Past the Fluff...
Pandas are great creatures, but they seem to be having some problems living in China. Some of these problems include predators, and the lack of variety in food. In order to understand more about pandas, my group looked at their past. Looking past the fluff, we found out that pandas lived about 10,000 years ago. Pandas belong to oldest line of bears and the earliest panda was a tiny foresting animal that, like pandas now, scavenged for food. These small animals were called Kertziarcts. Once these pandas started getting tired of eating things such as bugs, insects and leaves, they learned to adapt to Southern Asia. Pandas back then were a lot like pandas now, because of the way they found their food and only ate certain types of it. We figured that pandas are very picky animals. In fact, 99% of their diet consists of bamboo.
200,000 years...
We believe that in the span of 200,000 years, the tectonics of China and the rest of Asia will spread apart causing water to be put between the two different places. This would be the part of speciation called separation. The pandas would separate from each other causing them to be forced to adapt to different things, this is called adaption. Eventually after another long time the two different types of pandas would come back together. At this point they would be completely different species. That is called Reproductive Isolation.
The Future of Pandas...
In 200,000 years, as a result of living by the water, the pandas will have to learn to eat different things. Things that they would have to eat would be fish, bugs, and leaves but mostly fish. In order to be able to catch the fish easier, get leaves, and get insects, the pandas would have to be able to climb easier and get around quicker. In order to do this, pandas can not be as big and heavy as they are now. We think that pandas will develop flying squirrel- like wings. This will be a lot easier to survive their predators and get food because with the predators they can fly away and with food they can hunt it down easier. In conclusion, my group thinks that pandas in 200,000 years will become flying squirrel like creatures and develop wings.
Work Cited
"Darwin Evolved." Darwin Evolved. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 Feb. 2016.
"History, Travel, Arts, Science, People, Places | Smithsonian." History, Travel, Arts, Science, People, Places | Smithsonian. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 Feb. 2016. "ISYSGroup8." : Chengdu Panda Base. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 Feb. 2016.
"March 2016." Discover Magazine. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 Feb. 2016.
"National Geographic News." National Geographic. National Geographic Society, n.d. Web. 01 Feb. 2016.