Question

National animal of China is
A. Giant Panda
B. White Beer
C. Tiger
D. Eagle

Answer 1

Hint: The national animal of China is also known as the bamboo bear or large bear-cat.

Complete answer:
The national animal of China is the giant panda. Scientifically it is named as Ailuropoda melanoleuca. Earlier it was placed under the family named Procyonidae. In English, it is also known as a panda bear.

Additional Information:
> Giant panda belongs to the order Carnivora but a major portion of its diet is composed of bamboo shoots and leaves. It is basically a folivore which means that mostly consumes leaves or plant foliage.
> Currently, the giant panda is placed under the family Ursidae.
> Based on the study of certain physiological structures and phylogenetic relationships two subspecies of giant panda are identified.
> Few characteristics of the family Ursidae are:
- It has five different genera under it, namely Ursus, Helarctos, Ailuropoda, Melursus, and Tremarctos.
- The giant panda is the last of its kind or the only surviving member from Ursidae.
> Current classification of Giant panda is given in the table below:

Category of the Taxon	Name of the Taxon
Kingdom	Animalia
Phylum	Choradata
Class	Mammalia
Order	Carnivora
Family	Ursidae
Genus	Ailuropoda
Species	Ailuropoda melanoleuca

Note: A unique feature of the giant panda is that even though it belongs to order Carnivora but its diet is 99% similar to herbivorous animals. But the digestive system of giant pandas is adapted to a carnivorous diet and hence they do not receive optimal nutrition just by following a herbivorous diet. Due to this giant panda showing behavioral characters, they tend to limit their energy expenditure.