1. Why do you think scientists struggle to determine the closest relatives of giant pandas?

2. Based on your knowledge of bears and raccoons, which do you think the giant panda is most closely related to? Why?

1. There is a struggle between determining the closely related species of giant pandas because there is no as such ancestral evidence for the panda family.

Many study and research have shown that they can be either close to bears or raccoons but in spite of several sequencing there is no conclusion yet to closeness of pandas.

Even the red panda and giant pandas are compared, the only similarity is that they eat bamboos but they are not closely related. The red pandas are closely relates to ferrets and giant pandas to polar bear.

2. The giant pandas are more closely related to bears as compared to raccoons. The study have shown this they share more recent ancestors to bears.