Are Pandas Crepuscular, Diurnal, or Nocturnal? Short answer: Crepuscular… with a twist!

Pandas are absolutely beautiful creatures that have captured the attention of animal lovers all over the world. Their unique fur markings and their rarity have made them a symbol for both conservation movements and entire countries – such as China. There are approximately 1600 wild pandas in the world. There are another 100 pandas in zoos.

Pandas have a number of unique features that make a truly special animal. For many years, scientists were unable to properly classify this creature. It shares common anatomical and behavior features with both bears and raccoons. It wasn’t until researchers were able to study the panda at a molecular level that they discovered it was truly a bear. It seems however, that panda bears have split genetically from most bears quite some time ago, with their closest non-extinct relative being the speckled bear of south america. Pandas also have a unique anatomical feature known as a “pseudo thumb.” Pseudo is an ancient Greek word that essentially means fake.

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In addition to the panda’s special cultural and taxonomic features, the panda also possesses  uncommon activity patterns. Instead of being classified as diurnal or nocturnal, which means the animal is active during the day, or during the night respectively. The panda is what is known as crepuscular. This means that the panda is most active during the twilight hours. The twilight hours are the hours just after dawn and just before dusk. In addition to being this unique class of crepuscular animals, it seems that the crepuscular panda is fittingly in a class of it’s own in terms of crepuscular creatures. In addition to being active during the twilight hours, the panda is also active around midnight, meaning that it’s not strictly crepuscular. It is safe however, to consider pandas crepuscular, as it is the most fitting term for the animal.

Why is the crepuscular panda crepuscular? That is a good question, and a hard one to answer, as it’s impossible to measure the factors that lead to the pandas evolutionary development. With most creatures it comes down to a few important factors. Factors such as: predation, climate, and competition for food. Let’s examine them one by one, does the panda have many predators? Not really, the panda is still a bear. While pandas  generally prefer to run away from conflict, they are large mammals capable of a powerful  and nasty bite. Panda cubs may be in danger from local predators, such as  snow leopards,yellow-throated martens, and jackals. While these animals do indeed pose a threat to cubs, I’m not sure they acted as a powerful evolutionary agent. What about temperature? It seems that pandas prefer to live in mountain ranges that have average temperatures around 65 degrees Fahrenheit. So based on their current habitat, it does not seem likely that pandas are crepuscular in order to escape the heat.So are pandas competing for food? Pandas have evolved specifically to eat bamboo, which is an abundant resource that grows very quickly. So it would seem that competition for food is not a factor either.

So it would seem that the crepuscular panda doesn’t have the typical explanations for this behavior. It could be that this behavior was a result of selective pressures that occurred a long time ago, and are no longer relevant to the modern day panda. It could also be that pandas became crepuscular due to a random mutation. This mutation may not have given the panda an advantage, but the mutation survived due to the fact that pandas do not have many predators. It’s also important to note, that the mutation does not in any way harm the individual panda, therefore individuals with this mutation would not have troubles surviving and reproducing.

So, to sum it all up, we return to the question, are pandas crepuscular? The answer is yes, and no one is for sure why.

 

Are you interested in the activity patterns of bears in general? Check out Are Bears Crepuscular, Nocturnal, or Diurnal?