Acta Zoologica Cracoviensia, 34(2) 1991

Issue:

VOL 34(2) 1991

Keywords:

Hair, histological structure, Ailuropoda melanoleuca, Ailurus fulgens

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The histological structure of hairs of the giant panda, Ailuropoda melanoleuca (David, 1869), and the lesser panda, Ailurus fulgens (F. Cuvier, 1825), and the systematic position of these species

• Bogumiła DZIURDZIK
• Maria NOWOGRODZKA-ZAGÓRSKA

Abstract:

This paper presents a study of the histological structure of hairs of the giant panda, Ailuropoda melanoleuca (David, 1869), and the lesser panda, Ailurus fulgens (F. CUVIER, 1825), documented with photomicrographs taken in a scanning microscope (structure of hair cuticle) and in a light microscope (structure of hair medulla). The structure of hairs, especially the cuticular scale pattern, indicates the similarity of the giant panda to the Ursidaeand the lesser panda to the Procyonidae.