• vaultdweller013@sh.itjust.works
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      1 day ago

      Pandas are descendants of omnivores with a predator streak, them rat fucking their diet to near koala levels of bad doesn’t really factor in yet.

      • Fedizen@lemmy.world
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        9 minutes ago

        Idk if “descendants of omnivores” counts because then you could exclude a number of critters like pigs for being “descendants of herbivores” and then ‘why do pigs have forward facing eyes?’

        The obvious caveat is that pandas at the minimum don’t have selective pressure for side eyes or they have something pressuring stereoscopic vision even more similar to how aquatic animals have less selective pressure for forward facing eyes.

        I would imagine the way pandas eat bamboo stocks is more visual than most herbivores and that alone could help them retain steroscopic vision vision.

    • pjwestin@lemmy.world
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      24 hours ago

      Yeah, but Pandas aren’t herbivores, they’re vegetarians. They’re too slow and clumsy to actually hunt prey, so the only thing they can catch is bamboo (which is the fastest growing plant, so I guess that’s something…sort of…). Anyway, the point is, Pandas as a species are from a family of predators, and they would absolutely eat meat if you gave it to them.

    • notsure@fedia.io
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      2 days ago

      …i am withholding all judgments on pandas until my full research has been completed…i heard something on the internet…

    • Auli@lemmy.ca
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      2 days ago

      But Pandas are bears and haven’t changed much. They eat plants and their guts have not even evolved to do so yet. They are a wonder.

    • sbird@sopuli.xyz
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      1 day ago

      Is this because pandas used to be carnivorous? (they have sharp canine teeth despite pretty much only eating bamboo)