Search research articles

ABOUT JoVE

Overview Leadership Blog JoVE Help Center

AUTHORS

Publishing Process Editorial Board Scope & Policies Peer Review FAQ Submit

LIBRARIANS

Testimonials Subscriptions Access Resources Library Advisory Board FAQ

RESEARCH

JoVE Journal Methods Collections JoVE Encyclopedia of Experiments Archive

EDUCATION

JoVE Core JoVE Business JoVE Science Education JoVE Lab Manual Faculty Resource Center Faculty Site

Terms & Conditions of Use

Search research articles

Related Experiment Videos

Whence the red panda?

J J Flynn¹, M A Nedbal, J W Dragoo

¹Department of Geology, The Field Museum, Roosevelt Road at Lake Shore Drive, Chicago, Illinois 60605, USA.

Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution

|November 21, 2000

Summary

The red panda is not closely related to bears or raccoons. Molecular data strongly places the red panda within the Musteloidea superfamily, alongside skunks and a clade of raccoons and weasels.

Related Concept Videos

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by

Same author

Virtual reconstruction of the Canis arnensis type (Canidae, Mammalia) from the Upper Valdarno Basin (Italy, Early Pleistocene).

Scientific reports·2024

Same author

Advances in Higher Level Mammalian Relationships.

Cladistics : the international journal of the Willi Hennig Society·2021

Same author

A troodontid dinosaur from the latest Cretaceous of India.

Nature communications·2013

Same author

Polymorphism and gene organization of water buffalo MHC-DQB genes show homology to the BoLA DQB region.

Animal genetics·2011

Same author

Recent advances in South American mammalian paleontology.

Trends in ecology & evolution·2011

Same author

Assessing substitution patterns, rates and homoplasy at HVRI of Steller sea lions, Eumetopias jubatus.

Molecular ecology·2009

Area of Science:

* Carnivoran Mammal Phylogeny
* Molecular Systematics
* Evolutionary Biology

Background:

* The evolutionary history of the red panda (Ailurus fulgens) is crucial for understanding the higher-level phylogeny of arctoid carnivorans.
* Previous studies using morphological and molecular data have yielded conflicting evidence regarding the red panda's phylogenetic placement.
* The red panda has been controversially placed with bears (ursids), pinnipeds, raccoons (procyonids), or musteloids (raccoons, weasels, skunks, otters, badgers).

Purpose of the Study:

* To clarify the phylogenetic relationships of the red panda within arctoid carnivorans using molecular data.
* To provide a more comprehensive taxonomic sampling of relevant arctoid taxa than previous molecular analyses.
* To statistically test alternative hypotheses for the red panda's placement.

Main Methods:

* Analysis of nucleotide sequence data from three mitochondrial genes and one nuclear intron.
* Phylogenetic analyses using both parsimony and maximum-likelihood methods.
* Inclusion of bootstrap and decay indices for all arctoid nodes and statistical tests for phylogenetic hypotheses.

Main Results:

* Phylogenetic analyses reject hypotheses placing the red panda as most closely related to bears or raccoons.
* Nucleotide sequence data strongly support the placement of the red panda within a broad Musteloidea clade.
* This clade includes the red panda, skunks (mephitids), and a monophyletic group of procyonids and mustelids (sensu stricto).

Conclusions:

* The red panda belongs to the Musteloidea superfamily, challenging previous classifications.
* The interrelationships among the red panda, skunks, and the procyonid-mustelid clade remain unresolved (trichotomy).
* This study highlights the potential for misleading conclusions from small taxonomic sample sizes in phylogenetic analyses.

Related Experiment Videos