Editing Red panda (section)

==Description==
{{Multiple image |direction=vertical|align=right
|image1=Ailurus fulgens skull at the Beaty Biodiversity Museum.jpg|caption1=Red panda skull|alt1=Red panda skull
|image2=MC Kleiner Panda.jpg|caption2=Red panda face|alt2=Red panda face}}
The red panda's [[Animal coat|coat]] is mainly red or orange-brown with a black belly and legs. The muzzle, cheeks, brows and inner ear margins are mostly white while the bushy tail has red and [[Buff (colour)|buff]] ring patterns and a dark brown tip.<ref name="Fisher">{{cite book |author=Fisher |first=Rebecca E. |title=Red Panda: Biology and Conservation of the First Panda |publisher=Academic Press |year=2021 |isbn=978-0-12-823753-3 |editor=Glatston |editor-first=Angela R. |edition=2nd |place=London |pages=81–93 |chapter=Red Panda Anatomy |doi=10.1016/B978-0-12-823753-3.00030-2 |s2cid=243824295}}</ref><ref name="roberts+gittleman"/><ref name=Wozencraft>{{cite book |editor1=Xie, Y.|editor2=Smith, A. T.|editor3= Smith, D. E.|editor4= Hoffmann, R. S.|editor5= Wozencraft, W. C.|editor6=MacKinnon, J. R. |editor7=Lunde, D.|year=2013|title=Mammals of China|author=Wozencraft, W. C.|contribution=Carnivora|page=334|publisher=Princeton University Press |isbn=978-0691154275}}</ref> The colouration appears to serve as [[camouflage]] in habitat with red [[moss]] and white [[lichen]]-covered trees. The [[guard hair]]s are longer and rougher while the dense [[Fur#Down hair|undercoat]] is fluffier with shorter hairs.<ref name="roberts+gittleman">{{cite journal |date=1984 |journal=Mammalian Species |pages=1–8 |doi=10.2307/3503840 |author1=Roberts, M. S. |author2=Gittleman, J. L. |name-list-style=amp |title=''Ailurus fulgens'' |issue=222 |jstor=3503840 |s2cid=253993605 |url=https://repository.si.edu/bitstream/handle/10088/4231/Roberts1984.pdf |access-date=1 December 2017 |archive-date=1 December 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171201234131/https://repository.si.edu/bitstream/handle/10088/4231/Roberts1984.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> The guard hairs on the back have a circular cross-section and are {{cvt|47|–|56|mm|in}} long. It has moderately long [[whisker]]s around the mouth, lower jaw and chin. The hair on the soles of the paws allows the animal to walk in snow.<ref name="Fisher"/>

The red panda has a relatively small head, though proportionally larger than in similarly sized raccoons, with a reduced snout and triangular ears, and nearly evenly lengthed limbs.<ref name="Fisher"/><ref name="roberts+gittleman"/> It has a head-body length of {{cvt|51|–|63.5|cm}} with a {{cvt|28|–|48.5|cm}} tail. The Himalayan red panda is recorded to weigh {{cvt|3.2|–|9.4|kg}}, while the Chinese red panda weighs {{cvt|4|–|15|kg}} for females and {{cvt|4.2|–|13.4|kg}} for males.<ref name="Fisher" /> It has five curved [[Digit (anatomy)|digit]]s on each foot, each with curved semi-retractile claws that aid in climbing.<ref name="roberts+gittleman"/> The [[pelvis]] and hindlimbs have flexible joints, adaptations for an arboreal quadrupedal lifestyle.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Makungu|first1=M.|last2=du Plessis|first2=W. M. |last3=Groenewald |first3=H. B. |last4=Barrows|first4=M. |last5=Koeppel|first5=K. N. |year=2015 |title=Morphology of the pelvis and hind limb of the Red Panda (''Ailurus fulgens'') evidenced by gross osteology, radiography and computed tomography |journal=Anatomia, Histologia, Embryologia |volume=44 |issue=6 |pages=410–421 |doi=10.1111/ahe.12152 |pmid=25308447 |hdl=2263/50447 |s2cid=13035672 |name-list-style=amp|hdl-access=free }}</ref> While not [[Prehensile tail|prehensile]], the tail helps the animal balance while climbing.<ref name="roberts+gittleman"/>

The forepaws possess a "false thumb", which is an extension of a wrist bone, the radial [[sesamoid]] found in many carnivorans. This thumb allows the animal to grip onto bamboo stalks and both the digits and wrist bones are highly flexible. The red panda shares this feature with the giant panda, which has a larger sesamoid that is more compressed at the sides. In addition, the red panda's sesamoid has a more sunken tip while the giant panda's curves in the middle. These features give the giant panda more developed dexterity.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Antón |first1=M. |last2=Salesa |first2=M. J. |last3=Pastor|first3=J. F. |last4=Peigné|first4=S. |last5=Morales|first5=J. |year=2006 |title=Implications of the functional anatomy of the hand and forearm of ''Ailurus fulgens'' (Carnivora, Ailuridae) for the evolution of the 'false-thumb' in pandas|journal=Journal of Anatomy |volume=209 |issue=6 |pages=757–764 |doi=10.1111/j.1469-7580.2006.00649.x |pmid=17118063 |pmc=2049003 |doi-access=free |name-list-style=amp}}</ref>

The red panda's skull is wide, and its lower jaw is robust.<ref name=Fisher/><ref name="roberts+gittleman"/> However, because it eats leaves and stems, which are not as tough, it has smaller chewing muscles than the giant panda. The digestive system of the red panda is only 4.2 times its body length, with a simple stomach, no noticeable divide between the [[ileum]] and [[Colon (anatomy)|colon]], and no [[caecum]].<ref name=Fisher/>

Both sexes have paired [[anal gland]]s that emit a secretion consisting of long-chain [[fatty acid]]s, [[cholesterol]], [[squalene]] and [[2-Piperidinone]]; the latter is the most odoriferous compound and is perceived by humans as having an ammoniacal or pepper-like odour.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Wood |first1=W. F. |last2=Dragoo |first2=G. A. |last3=Richard |first3=M. J. |last4=Dragoo |first4=J. W. |year=2003 |title=Long-chain fatty acids in the anal gland of the red panda, ''Ailurus fulgens'' |journal=Biochemical Systematics and Ecology |volume=31 |issue=9 |pages=1057–1060 |doi=10.1016/S0305-1978(03)00060-7|bibcode=2003BioSE..31.1057W }}</ref>