Capital Wired

Keeps You Updated

Saturday, January 16, 2021
Log in
  • Headlines
  • Business
  • Health
  • Tech & Science
  • Sports
  • World
  • US
  • Latest News
    • How To Make Your Own Home-Brewed Morphine
    • Using Mouthwash Too Often Puts You at Risk of Obesity and Diabetes
    • Walmart to Solve its Supply Chain Issues and Further Cut Down on Costs
    • The World’s Most Expensive Christmas Decorations
    • Netflix Hopes to Balance Data Limit With Great Video Quality
    • Joji Morishita says Japan Will Resume Whaling
    • The Most Beloved Plastic Surgeries Among Americans
    • Skype for Web Allows Non-Users to Take Part In Its Online Chats

Pages

  • About Capital Wired
  • Contact Us
  • Privacy Policy GDPR
  • Reprint & Licensing
  • Staff
  • Terms of Use

Recent Posts

  • Here’s Why Your Brain Keeps Worrying about Everything June 29, 2018
  • Don’t Throw That Sunscreen after Summer Is Up June 29, 2018
  • Analysts: Currency War between U.S. and China Might Be Looming June 28, 2018
  • Starbucks Rival The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf Opening 100 Shops June 27, 2018
  • Study Finds We Are Alone in the Universe June 26, 2018
  • Restaurant Owner Not Sorry for Booting Sarah Sanders June 26, 2018
  • Beware of the Hidden Salt in Your Food! June 25, 2018

Pandas Have Really Slow Metabolism, Scientists Find

July 10, 2015 By Brian Galloway Leave a Comment

Email, RSS Follow

Panda eating bamboo

Panda eating bamboo


According to a new study, pandas are very similar to sloths, in the sense that they have very slow movements. The scientists involved in the study say that the pandas have really slow metabolism, which is why they move so sluggishly. Also, the experts attribute their slow movements to the animals’ levels of thyroid hormones and organ size. Although panda bears have a digestive system that could allow them to consume a meat diet, the black-and-white mammals eat mostly bamboo, which could be the reason why they have such a low expenditure of energy.

The new study was conducted by a team of biologists from the Chinese Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Zoology in Beijing. The leader of the study was scientist Fuwen Wei who measured how much energy pandas consumed. The researchers examined three wild pandas from the Foping Nature Reserve in Shaanxi province, and five specimens living in captivity in the Beijing Zoo.

The study suggests that the pandas have a daily energy expenditure of about 5.2 megajoules, which was only about 38% of what the researchers expected to find. Also, they found that the pandas expended only about 6.2 megajoules daily, which was only 45% of what was expected from the studied animals. According to the researchers, wild pandas rest more than 50% of their day, and they travel at a speed of less than 65 ft per hour.

The biologists also investigated the level of thyroid hormones in the pandas and found there was a gene variation that was similar to that of humans who have low-functioning thyroid glands. The study revealed that the pandas use only a fraction of their thyroid, compared to other animals. The scientists were surprised to find that pandas exhibit the same amount of thyroid hormones as a black bear in its hibernation mode.

Fuwen Wei wrote in his study that pandas have a really low metabolism due to various factors of a physiological, behavioral, morphological and genetic nature.

The study also suggests that pandas have smaller organs compared to other species of bears, especially their kidneys, brain and liver. Scientists believe this could be the reason why pandas have such a slow metabolism and can survive eating a diet that consists mainly of bamboo.

Experts believe that because of their slow metabolism, pandas’ coat is very important for them because it helps them regulate the heat of their body.

The scientists published their findings in the journal Science.
Image Source: cnn

Email, RSS Follow

Brian Galloway

Brian’s philosophy is pretty straightforward: easy living, wishful thinking, heavy criticizing. Despite the fact that he wouldn’t go as far as describe himself a conspirationist, Brian does take everything with a grain of sand. He loves following every lead when covering a story and mostly enjoys to cover politics and US news.

Filed Under: Tech & Science

Subscribe to Blog via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Recent Articles

dc logo on black galaxy background

Ava DuVernay to Direct DC’s New Gods Adaptation

March 16, 2018 By Rebecca McGhee Leave a Comment

leonardo davinci's signature in black

Is DaVinci’s Record Breaking Painting Authentic?

November 20, 2017 By Rebecca McGhee Leave a Comment

stephen hawking

Stephen Hawking Makes Gloomy Prediction For Earth In A 100 Years

May 7, 2017 By Deborah Nielsen Leave a Comment

"Dwayne Johnson not dead"

Dwayne Johnson Died this Week or Not

January 19, 2016 By Jason Leathers 3 Comments

There Are At Least Three More Seasons of Game of Thrones To Go

July 31, 2015 By Rebecca McGhee Leave a Comment

Homelessness Soars in L.A., Officials Pledge to House Everybody by 2016

May 12, 2015 By Brian Galloway Leave a Comment

FBI Releases National Report on Slain Police Officers, Figures are Alarming

May 12, 2015 By Rebecca McGhee Leave a Comment

New York Nuclear Plant Partially Shut Down due to Hudson Oil Slick

May 11, 2015 By Jason Leathers 2 Comments

Obama Draws Heat from Democrats over Asia Trade Deal

May 9, 2015 By Rebecca McGhee Leave a Comment

Florida Governor Changes Stance on Obamacare Once More, Budget on Hold

May 9, 2015 By Brian Galloway Leave a Comment

Secret Service to add an Extra Layer of Spikes to White House Fence

May 8, 2015 By Chen Lai Leave a Comment

Police Arrested Suspect in death of Student who tried to Sell Car on Craigslist

May 8, 2015 By Deborah Nielsen 1 Comment

AccuWeather.com: 2015 Atlantic Tropical Storm Season is Officially Open

May 7, 2015 By Deborah Nielsen Leave a Comment

Illinois Student Found Dead after Trying to Sell his Car on Craigslist

May 7, 2015 By Deborah Nielsen 2 Comments

Related Articles

  • ET movie

    Study Finds We Are Alone in the Universe

    Jun 26, 2018
  • Sarah Huckabee Sanders

    Restaurant Owner Not Sorry for Booting Sarah Sanders

    Jun 26, 2018
  • New Type of Photosynthesis Spotted in Blue-Green Algae

    Jun 20, 2018
  • Tropical fish and coral reef

    Coral Reefs Save Us from Flooding (Study)

    Jun 14, 2018
  • NASA astronaut on the moon

    NASA Astronauts Warmed Up the Moon in the 1970s

    Jun 12, 2018
  • Antarctic landscape

    Antarctica Experiencing Routine Earthquakes Like Any Other Continent

    Jun 5, 2018
  • SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launch

    SpaceX Launches Powerful Communications Satellite into Orbit

    Jun 5, 2018
  • Planet Pluto

    Scientists Have New Theory About Pluto’s Formation

    May 30, 2018
  • The Milky Way

    NASA Uses Lasers to Re-Create Coldest Spot in the Universe

    May 22, 2018
  • Plastic bottle on a sand beach

    Earth Has Had 33 Years of Above-than-Average Temperatures

    May 21, 2018

Categories

  • Business
  • Headlines
  • Health
  • Sports
  • Tech & Science
  • US
  • World

Copyright © 2021 capitalwired.com

About · Privacy Policy · Terms of Use · Contact

This website uses cookies to ensure you get the best experience on our website. Learn more.