Hmmm.. perhaps the Pandas will decide it's time to add meat to
their diet. as i understand it, there's a lot of little Chinese folks
running around in the Panda neighborhood. They might be the ones
needing to worry
LarryT
91 300D
On 5/20/2015 2:14 PM, Andrew Strasfogel via Mercedes wrote:
A new study of panda waste brings bad news for the endangered species:
Their stomach microbes don't match their diet.
Though pandas have been eating bamboo for at least 7 million years, with
the plant being the bear's sole source of food for the past 2 million
years, it turns out the microbes in their guts are meant to digest meat.
The findings of the genetic analysis of 121 samples of panda feces
published in the journal*mBio* may put [pandas] at high risk of
extinction, the authors wrote.
Scientists have long been wondering about pandas' evolution because their
stomachs are not as long as other herbivores. Longer guts allow animals
more time to break down tough plant parts.
The researchers hypothesized that pandas would have developed special
bamboo-optimized microbes to help them break down plants faster, but, as
their study shows, that is not the case.
Instead, the study found, pandas are living a highly fragile lifestyle by
relying so much on bamboo (Karen Kaplan, *Los Angeles Times*
http://www.latimes.com/science/sciencenow/la-sci-sn-giant-panda-bamboo-meat-20150519-story.html,
May 19). *-- AW*
___
http://www.okiebenz.com
To search list archives http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/
To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to:
http://mail.okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com
___
http://www.okiebenz.com
To search list archives http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/
To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to:
http://mail.okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com
