A greatly enlarged wrist bone called the radial sesamoid was discovered in fossils in southwestern China’s Yunnan province dating back about six million years, according to research published in the journal Scientific Reports. The findings shed light on how the giant panda species evolved a “false thumb” that allowed it to grasp and break heavy bamboo stems, making it the only dedicated herbivore in the bear family, said researchers, including those from the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing.
