• Hestia [comrade/them, she/her]@hexbear.net
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    7
    ·
    29 days ago

    Pandas aren’t predators because at some point in their evolutionary history they lost the ability to taste meat. So they eat bamboo instead, but still have the digestive system of a carnivore so it’s an extremely inefficient way of getting calories.

    • novibe@lemmy.ml
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      1
      ·
      edit-2
      28 days ago

      Bears have omnivore digestive systems tho.

      Being from the Carnivora family doesn’t make you an obligatory carnivore.

      (Though their last common ancestor was most likely an obligatory carnivore yes. But bears are a very old group, and they have evolved away from obligatory meat eating a long long time ago. We also have some adaptations away from being herbivores for example - shorter intestines than gorillas etc.).

      • Hestia [comrade/them, she/her]@hexbear.net
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        1
        ·
        28 days ago

        I never said it did? And I’m specifically referring to pandas, which do have the digestive system of a carnivore. Sure they’re still capable of digesting non-meat, but it’s inefficient.