Ailuropoda is the only extant genus in the ursid (bear) subfamily Ailuropodinae. It contains one living and four fossil species of giant panda.
Only one species — Ailuropoda melanoleuca — currently exists; the other four species are prehistoric chronospecies. Despite its taxonomic classification as a carnivoran, the giant panda has a diet that is primarily herbivorous, which consists almost exclusively of bamboo.
Giant pandas are descended from Ailurarctos, which lived during the late Miocene.
Read more about Ailuropoda: Classification, Other Pandas