Are red pandas related to giant pandas?

Published 8 October 2026 · Last updated 8 October 2026 · By the PandasWise team

Only distantly. Giant pandas and red pandas are both in the mammal order Carnivora and share a common ancestor millions of years ago, but they are not close relatives. The giant panda is a bear (family Ursidae). The red panda is the only living member of its own family, Ailuridae, and its closest living relatives are thought to be the group that includes skunks, raccoons and weasels, not bears.

Where each panda sits on the tree of life

Being in the same suborder puts them in the same broad branch as dogs, bears, seals, weasels and raccoons. Within that branch, they sit on quite separate twigs.

A long argument, settled by DNA

Classifying both pandas took more than a century:

• The red panda came first. Frédéric Cuvier described it in 1825. With its ringed tail and masked face, it was placed with raccoons in the family Procyonidae.
• The giant panda arrived in 1869 and was eventually given the red panda's name. Because both ate bamboo and had a false thumb, many scientists assumed they were related, and argued over whether one or both were bears or raccoons.
• Genetics resolved it. DNA studies confirmed that the giant panda is a true bear. For the red panda, some early DNA results pointed toward bears, but later molecular studies placed it in its own ancient family, Ailuridae, closest to the musteloid group (raccoons, skunks, weasels and relatives).

Fossils add to the picture. Relatives of the red panda once lived across Eurasia and even North America, where fossils dating back around 5 million years have been found. Today only the red panda remains.

So why do both have a "thumb"?

Both pandas have an enlarged wrist bone covered by a pad of skin that works against the fingers like a thumb, ideal for holding bamboo. If they are not close relatives, why share such an unusual feature? The usual explanation is convergent evolution: two lineages facing the same problem (gripping slender bamboo stems) evolved similar solutions independently. They also share flattened chewing teeth, strong jaw muscles and a low energy lifestyle, all linked to a bamboo diet rather than to close ancestry.

Is the red panda one species or two?

A further twist: the red panda may be two species. In 2020, a genomic study using 65 whole genomes, plus Y chromosome and mitochondrial DNA, found deep genetic divisions and concluded there are two phylogenetic species, the Himalayan red panda (Ailurus fulgens) and the Chinese red panda (Ailurus styani). The Chinese form tends to be larger and redder, with more distinct tail rings. The IUCN's current assessment still treats red pandas as one species. Either way, both are Ailuridae and neither is a bear.

Where does the name "panda" come from?

The name belonged to the red panda first. Its origin is uncertain: San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance says many link it to an old Nepalese name that may have meant "bamboo footed", while WWF links it to a Nepali word for a bamboo or plant eating animal. Once the giant panda became known, it took on the same name, and the red panda was for a time called the "lesser panda".

Quick answer for curious kids

A giant panda is a bear. A red panda is not a bear, a raccoon or a baby giant panda: it is its own kind of animal. They are both called pandas because they both love bamboo and both have a special wrist bone that works like a thumb. See the full giant vs red panda comparison.