Giant pandas are the flagship species in world conservation. Due to bamboo being the primary food source for giant pandas, dental wear is common owing to the extreme toughness of the bamboo fiber. Even though research on tooth enamel wear in humans and domestic animals is well-established, research on tooth enamel wear in giant pandas is scarce. The purpose of this study is to evaluate tooth enamel wear resistance in giant pandas to provide a basis for a better understanding of their evolutionary process. From microscopic and macroscopic perspectives, the abrasion resistance of dental enamel in giant pandas is compared with that of herbivorous cattle and carnivorous dogs in this study. This involves the use of micro-scratch and frictional wear tests. The results show that the boundary between the enamel prism and the enamel prism stroma is well-defined in panda and canine teeth, while bovine tooth enamel appears denser. Under constant load, the tribological properties of giant panda enamel are similar to those of canines and significantly different from those of bovines. Test results show that the depth of micro scratches in giant panda and canine enamel was greater than in cattle, with greater elastic recovery occurring in dogs. Scratch morphology indicates that the enamel substantive damage critical value is greater in pandas than in both dogs and cattle. The analysis suggests that giant panda enamel consists of a neatly arranged special structure that may disperse extrusion stress and absorb impact energy through a series of inelastic deformation mechanisms to cope with the wear caused by eating bamboo. In this study, the excellent wear resistance of giant panda's tooth enamel is verified by wear tests. A possible theoretical explanation of how the special structure of giant panda tooth enamel may improve its wear resistance is provided. This provides a direction for subsequent theoretical and experimental studies on giant panda tooth enamel and its biomaterials.

The Giant pandas (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) are mammals belonging to the bear family, order Carnivora, and their characteristic hair color and distribution has been in the spotlight. In recent years, the gradual prevalence of skin diseases in giant pandas and even the discovery of albino individuals have made the study of the substrate of their skin hair distribution more and more urgent. In this study, by comparing the skin histology and transcriptomes for hairs of different color of giant pandas, we found that the melanin contents of hair follicles at the bases of black and white hairs differed, but the hair follicles at the base of white hairs also contained some amount of melanin. The transcriptome sequencing results showed that there were great differences in the expression of the transcriptome of the skin under different hair color blocks, in which the number of differentially expressed genes in the white skin was much smaller than that in the black skin. Transcriptomes for skin tissue samples for different hair colors revealed several enriched Kyoto encyclopedia of genes (KEGG) pathways that include tumor, cell adhesion and melanocyte growth-related signaling pathways. This study provides a theoretical basis for subsequent studies on hair color distribution and skin diseases in giant pandas.

Purpose Using a quick electroretinography (ERG) protocol for rapid assessment of the retinal function of wild giant pandas (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) performed in field conditions to demonstrate the range of ERG recordings in giant pandas of unknown retinal status. Animals studied Nine free range giant pandas. Procedure All the giant pandas were anesthetized using an intramuscular dexMTZ injection, which is a combination of dexmedetomidine and tiletamine‐zolazepam. After 20 mins of dark adaptation, scotopic ERGs were obtained by using three flash intensities: −25 dB (0.0087 cd·s/m2), 0 dB (2.75 cd·s/m2), and +5 dB (8.7 cd·s/m2). Next, photopic ERGs were acquired using a single flash protocol with a flash intensity of 3.0 cd·s/m2 after 10 minutes of light adaptation. Results In scotopic ERG at 0.0087 cd·s/m2, mean b‐wave amplitude and peak time were 82.26 µV (SD ± 16.65 and 95% CI 68.33‐96.18) and 66.97 ms (SD ± 10.86 and 95% CI 57.90‐76.05), respectively. This flash intensity was below a‐wave threshold and resulted in b waves with greater peak times compared to those with higher intensities. At 2.75 cd·s/m2, the mean a‐wave amplitude and peak time were 53.95 µV (SD ± 11.63 and 95% CI 44.23‐63.67) and 16.13 ms (SD ± 2.62 and 95% CI 13.94‐18.31), and mean b‐wave amplitude and peak time were 119.57 µV (SD ± 15.54 and 95% CI 106.57‐132.56) and 32.00 ms (SD ± 6.47 and 95% CI 26.59‐37.41). At 8.7 cd·s/m2, the mean a‐wave amplitude and peak time were 58.85 µV (SD ± 14.90 and 95% CI 46.39‐71.31) and 15.59 ms (SD ± 2.63 and 95% CI 13.40‐17.79), and the mean b‐wave amplitude and peak time were 132.97 µV (SD ± 22.11 and 95% CI 114.48‐151.46) and 32.66 ms (SD ± 6.87 and 95% CI 26.91‐38.40). In photopic ERG at 2.75 cd·s/m2, the mean a‐wave amplitude and peak time were 62.08 µV (SD ± 16.61 and 95% CI 48.19‐75.97) and 16.28 ms (SD ± 0.90 and 95% CI 15.53‐17.03), and the mean b‐wave amplitude and peak time were 214.93 µV (SD ± 70.41 and 95% CI 156.07‐273.80) and 33.09 ms (SD ± 1.27 and 95% CI 32.03‐34.15). Conclusion Using a portable ERG system with a brief ERG protocol to perform electroretinographies in wild giant pandas is a practical, useful, and reliable method for the rapid assessment of their retinal function.