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What is Wrist bone?
A wristbone is a bone found in the wrist, also known as carpal bones.
Does a panda make any special adaptations in order to live in china?
Yes, they do. They use an enlarged wristbone as a thumb to grab bamboo. They also changed their diet from eating meat to eating plants.
Where did Christ nailed?
It is almost certain that Christ's wrists were nailed rather than a nail hammered into the palm of his hand (as many paintings portray). This was done for three reasons: first nailing between the wristbone would be far more secure and the weight of the body could be taken more easily (if the palm was used the flesh would just tear). Secondly it was to cause loss of blood as the nail would pass through the arteries in the wrists -causing blood loss and shock. Thirdly, by passing in the vicinity of the main nerves in the wrist, nailing like this would cause excruciating pain - a caracteristic of the brutal means of execution called crucifixion.In addition to the nails in the wrists, the legs would be turned sideways with one foot placed over the other. A single long nail would be passed through both ankles again to cause much pain.
What adaptations helps pandas to survive in its natural habitat?
The panda bear has a thumb that helps them grab bamboo. The thumb that they have is actually apart of a greatly extended wristbone. They also move slowly. This is an example of a behavioral adaptation. They are capable of moving very fast. They just walk at a slow pace to conserve energy because their diet ( mainly plants and bamboo) does not contain a large amount of nutrition.
How are humans making a panda an endangered animal?
Giant pandas are black and white and loved all overThe giant panda is a national treasure in China and is therefore protected by law. This unique bear has long been revered by the Chinese and can be found in Chinese art dating back thousands of years. The Chinese call their beloved pandas "large bear-cats." People outside of China have been fascinated by giant pandas since they were first described by French Missionary Pere Armand David in 1869. Now, more than 100 years later, the worldwide love for pandas has been combined with international efforts to keep them from becoming extinct. How did the panda get its colors?Scientists aren't exactly sure. One theory is that pandas developed the contrasting black and white colors over time so they would stand out in the forest and be able to find each other to mate. Another idea is that the broad blockings of contrasting color may serve to camouflage the panda in the bamboo or treetops. Anyone who's tried to spot one of our panda cubs up in the tree napping can verify how difficult that can be! Scientists have yet to confirm what the real purpose of the panda's coloration is. Each panda's markings are slightly different from one another. There is also a rare brown and white variation of the giant panda. Are giant pandas bears?For years scientists have wondered whether pandas are bears, raccoons, or in a group all their own. Through studying the genetic code (DNA) in pandas' cells, scientists have confirmed the panda's relationship with bears. Giant pandas are similar to other bears in their general looks, the way they walk and climb, and their skull characteristics. It's important to know that pandas are bears, because the more we know about pandas, the better we can help them reproduce and survive. A panda newborn is all white.Giant pandas start out smallGiant pandas are only about the size of a stick of butter at birth, and they're hairless and helpless. The panda mother gives great care to her tiny cub, usually cradling it in one paw and holding it close to her chest. For several days after birth, the mother does not leave the den, not even to eat or drink! The cub's eyes open at 50 to 60 days of age and by 10 weeks the cub begins to crawl. Its teeth appear by the time it is 14 weeks old and mother and cub spend much less time using their den. By 21 weeks, the cub is able to walk pretty well. At this time, the cub starts to play with its mother and at seven to 9 months of age it starts attempting to eat bamboo. The cub continues to nurse until about 18 months of age. At this time, the mother is ready to send the cub off on its own so she can prepare for her next cub.Yet despite the attention they receive from their mothers, many young pandas do not survive. Through captive propagation programs in China and other zoos around the world, we are learning more about the care of panda cubs and how to help them reach adulthood.Bamboo is food and shelterBamboo is the most important plant in a giant panda's life. Pandas live in cold and rainy bamboo forests high in the mountains of western China. They spend at least 12 hours each day eating bamboo. Because bamboo is so low in nutrients, pandas eat as much as 84 pounds (38 kilograms) of it each day. Pandas grasp bamboo stalks with their five fingers and a special wristbone, then use their teeth to peel off the tough outer layers to reveal the soft inner tissue. Strong jaw bones and cheek muscles help pandas crush and chew the thick stalks with their flattened back teeth. Bamboo leaves are also on the menu, as pandas strip them off the stalks, wad them up, and swallow them. Giant pandas have also been known to eat grasses, bulbs, fruits, some insects, and even rodents and carrion. At the San Diego Zoo, pandas are offered bamboo, carrots, yams, and special leaf eater biscuits made of grain and packed with all the vitamins and minerals pandas need. The average panda home range is thought to be approximately 1.9 square miles (5 square kilometers), with male ranges larger than that of females. In areas where food is not plentiful, the home range can be larger.Vocal pandasPandas make a bleating sound similar to the sound a lamb or a goat kid would make. It's a friendly sound, a greeting. They don't roar, the way you think of a brown bear roaring. But they do bleat and honk, they sometimes huff, bark, or growl, and young cubs croak and squeal. Giant pandas face big problemsToday, only around 1,600 giant pandas survive on Earth. There are several reasons why pandas are endangered: Low reproductive rate- Pandas like to be by themselves most of the year, and they have a very short breeding season when a male will look for a female to mate with. Females give birth to one or two cubs, which are very dependent on their mothers during the first few years of life. In the wild, mother pandas will care for only one of the young. In panda facilities in China, keepers help to hand raise any twin cubs. One baby is left with the mother and the keepers switch the twins every few days so each one gets care and milk directly from the mother.Bamboo shortages- When bamboo plants reach maturity, they flower and produce seeds, and then the mature plant dies. The seeds grow slowly into plants large enough for pandas to eat. Giant pandas can eat 25 different types of bamboo, but they usually eat only the 4 or 5 kinds that grow in their home range. The unusual thing about bamboo is that all of the plants of one species growing in an area will bloom and die at the same time. When those plants die, pandas move to another area. But now, with humans taking up much of the panda's habitat, pandas are often unable to move to another area and may face starvation.Habitat destruction- China has more than one billion people. As people build more cities and farms and use more natural resources, giant pandas lose their homes.Hunting- When hunters set snares for other animals, like musk deer, the traps often kill pandas instead.It takes an international effortWork to keep pandas from becoming extinct crosses oceans and international boundaries. In China, wildlife reserves have been established to ensure that the remaining wild pandas have space to live, eat, and move around without human interference. There is still much that humans do not know about pandas. We must understand how pandas survive, reproduce, and communicate. Researchers at zoos like the San Diego Zoo are studying pandas' scent marking, their nutritional needs, and how they communicate with each other. Working together with Chinese panda experts may help increase the number of giant pandas and ensure the future survival of the giant panda population. A giant panda milk formula created by the Zoo's nutritionist and a hand-rearing technique developed by the Chinese called "twin swapping" have transformed the survival rate of nursery-reared panda cubs in China from zero percent to 95 percent. The giant panda breeding rate at the Wolong Breeding Center in China increased dramatically following multiyear collaborations with San Diego Zoo Conservation Research.Zoo Newsletters | FAQ | Contact Us | Media | About Us | Zoo Jobs | Disabled AccessEl Zoo en Español | Terms of Use | Privacy Policy© 2010 Zoological Society of San DiegoOur vision: to become a world leader at connecting people to wildlife and conservation.Accredited Member
What are Threats to the giant pandas?
Destruction of the panda's natural habitat is now a major threat to the survival of the species. In the eleven years from 1973 to 1984, suitable habitat for the animal shrunk by 50 per cent in six isolated, but previously ideal, areas.Pandas face the problem of the bamboo flowering cycle. At regular intervals (ranging from 10 to 100 years depending on the species), bamboo plants flower over large areas and die. Although they regenerate from seed within a year, it can take up to 20 years before the bamboo can support a panda population again.When the bamboo in one area flowers, pandas have to move to other areas where this has not happened. Historically, this was easy, but as the human population expanded, more forests have been cleared for agricultural purposes, or for the collection of fuelwood and timber. At the same time, more human settlements and roads have been built. Together, they make panda migration much more difficult, leaving pandas restricted to islands of forest.Although giant pandas will eat a large variety of plants, the overwhelming bulk of their diet, over 99%, consists of bamboo leaves, stems and shoots. Over fifteen different varieties of bamboo grow within the region.Because of the giant pandas still quite inefficient intestinal system, it must eat great amounts of bamboo each day in order to get sufficient nutrition to survive. Feeding for 12 to 16 hours each day, giant pandas will consume 10 to 18 kilograms (22 to 40 pounds) of bamboo leaves and stems. When consuming fresh bamboo shoots, the necessary intake rises to approximately 38 kilograms (84 pounds) each day.The size of the home range of an giant panda is quite small when compared to the home ranges of other bear species.In general, a home range will vary from 3.8 to 6.5 square kilometers (1.5 to 2.5 square miles). The range of an individual giant panda is shared with other bears. Females have been found to stay in quite small, discrete ranges only 30 to 40 hectares (75 to 100 acres) in size. Males have larger home ranges which overlap the home ranges of several females.The habitat of the giant panda, suitable for the bamboo on which it survives, is a cold, damp coniferous forest. The elevation ranges from 1,200 to 3,400 metres ( 4,000 to 11,000 feet) high. In most of the areas in which they still roam wild, they must compete with farmers who farm the river valleys and the lower slopes of the mountains.Ancient Chinese history and writings abound with mention of the Panda. They were kept by emperors and their hides were highly valued. They carried a mystique and were believed to be able to ward off evil spirits and natural disasters.The giant panda is a large mammal which, overall, has the same general size and shape of the American black bear and the Asiatic black bear.In general, adult giant pandas and have a length of 160 to 180 centimeters (5 1/4 to 6 feet). The weight of a adult male giant panda is normally between 80 and 125 kilograms (176 and 276 pounds) with males typically weighing about 10% to 20% more than females.With few natural enemies other than man, the lifespan of giant pandas in the wild is thought to be twenty-five years or more.The panda has the digestive system of a carnivore. Long ago, however, it adapted to a vegetarian diet and now feeds almost exclusively on the stems and leaves of bamboo. Hidden in the dense foliage of the forest, the panda eats for up to 14 hours a day, consuming 12 to 14kg of bamboo.The panda is omnivorous. While bamboo represents 99% of their diet they have also been known to eat fish, pikas, rodents, vines, irises, crocus, mushrooms and rice grass. The panda assumes a sitting position to eat. Their unique forepaws have an enlarged wristbone that they can flex like a thumb. This allows them to direct bamboo stalks to their mouths where they strip off bites with their incisor teeth.Pandas digest about 20% of what they eat. (Cattle, for example, digest 60% of their intake) To compensate for their low quality diet pandas select only the most nutritious parts of the bamboo, they eat rapidly and they eat a lot. About 12 hours each day are spent feeding and they consume 12-15% of their body weight each day. During this time they consume between 23 and 36 pounds of bamboo shoots and leaves. They have been known to consume as much as 84 pounds of "new" bamboo shoots at one sitting. Special adaptations for digestion include large molars. 25 species of bamboo are eaten by pandas in the wild. Captive pandas will eat only 9 of these. Only a few bamboo species are widespread at the high altitudes pandas now inhabit: Fargesia spathacea, Sinarundinaria chungii, Sinarundinaria nitida, and Sinarundinaria fangiana.Bamboo leaves contain the highest protein levels, stems have less. Because of the synchronous flowering, death and regeneration of all bamboo species, pandas must have a least 2 different species available in their range to avoid starvation.Throughout most of the year pandas have a water imbalance because their feces eliminate more water than the food brings in. They usually drink at least once each day.In the wild, adult female pandas give birth once a year and usually produce two cubs in the litter. Normally only one will survive. A newborn cub will weigh around 5 ounces is all white and blind at birth. The black spots develop after about a month.A cub will begin to eat bamboo at about six months and be fully weaned after nine months. At the end of the first year they are about 70 to 80 pounds. The cubs will stay with their mother for about 1 1/2 years.Giant panda cubs are extremely vulnerable while the mother is away feeding on bamboo. During this time, the newborn is subject to predation by any number of predators.The cubs will stay with the mother for the entire first year to year and a half. Normally they are driven off by their mother as she prepares to breed once more.The survival of giant panda cubs is totally dependent on the skill of the mother in both protecting them and teaching them the basics of what to eat, where and how to get it, how to cope with danger and all the other skills of living in the wild.Female giant pandas do not normally mature until they are 5 to 7 years of age. Copulation normally takes place in a manner similar to members of the canine (dog) family.Mating begins in late-March and continues on into May. Similar to other bear species, the female stays in heat for only a short time, normally two to seven days. Unlike any other bear, males will often roar to announce their presence to receptive females. Females may mate with several males during the breeding season.Through a remarkable process referred to as delayed implantation, the fertilized ovum divides a few times and then floats free within the uterus for a few months with its development arrested. Sometime around June or July, the embryo will attach itself to the uterine wall and after a gestation period of eight weeks (August or September), the giant panda female will enter a rock cavity or hollow tree to deliver one or two cubs.At birth, the cubs are blind and very tiny. They weigh from 90 to 130 grams (3 to 4 1/2 ounces). This is about the size of a chipmunk. The newborn cubs are covered with a fine white fur but will have acquired the typical giant panda fur colouration within a month of their birth.The mother will use the maternity den for a month to a month and a half. Cradling the newborn cub in her forepaws, the mother will hold the cub so that it is able to suckle similar to a human mother nursing her child. The female regularly leaves the den for two to three hours to forage on nearby bamboo. Giant panda cubs are eating bamboo by the time they are 6 months old and are fully weaned by the time they are 9 months of age. At one year of age, the cubs normally weigh about 35 kilograms (75 pounds).Wild giant pandas are found only in southwestern China. They occupy 6 small forest fragments in the provinces of Sichuan, Gansu and Shaanxi. (5,400 square miles).They inhabit damp, misty forests of bamboo and conifers. Their preferred habitat has dense stands of at least one species of bamboo (preferably more).They are found at high altitudes (4,000-11,500 feet). They migrate higher in the summer, lower in the winter, preferring areas that are undisturbed by human activity and with access to clear mountain streams.Summers are cool with Monsoon (torrential rains) occurring from June to October. Snow and hail are common in winter.Unlike some other bears, the panda does not hibernate. Its cubs are fairly small at birth, weighing only 90 to 130 gm, but, fully grown, it can weigh 100kg and over. New born cubs have little fur and are very delicate. Infant mortality is also high. The average life span is 18 to 20 years in the wild, and up to 30 years in captivity
