小熊猫和大熊猫的名字里都有“熊猫”二字，而且都喜欢吃竹子，那么这俩小可爱到底是什么关系呢?

答案是：关系不大。

Both the red panda and the giant panda are consist of the word "panda", and they both like to eat bamboo, so what is the relationship between these two cuties?

The answer? Not much.

和大熊猫一样，小熊猫是全世界公认的最可爱的物种之一。它身手敏捷，是逮鸟掏蛋的能手，除了竹叶和竹笋，小熊猫还喜欢吃浆果、鸟蛋、昆虫，甚至小型哺乳动物也在它的食谱里。

分子生物学研究表明，大熊猫和小熊猫的祖先在大约400万年前就已经分道扬镳了。

Like the giant panda, the red panda is listed among the most adorable species in the world. Agile as they are，they are an expert at catching birds and eggs. Besides bamboo and shoots, they also enjoy berries, bird eggs, insects and even small mammals. Molecular biology studies have shown that the ancestors of the giant panda and the red panda diverged about four million years ago.

资料显示，小熊猫的曾用名Panda比大熊猫的曾用名Giant Panda还要早45年。但由于大熊猫的黑白配色自带喜感、外形憨态可掬，深受人们喜爱，于是慢慢“抢”走了Panda这个名字。而小熊猫因为身披红棕色的体毛，腿部和腹部毛发接近黑色的深棕，所以改叫“Red Panda”。

In fact, the red panda actually possessed this name 45 years earlier than the giant panda according to data. However, the giant panda slowly "stole" the name because of its black and white colour scheme and its charmy-looking appearance . The red panda was then renamed because of its reddish-brown coat and the dark brown hair on its legs and belly.

我国小熊猫与大熊猫分布区域重叠，可以说有大熊猫的地方，一般都有小熊猫。

The distribution of these two overlaps , usually when there are giant pandas, there are generally red pandas as well.

实际上，小熊猫属于食肉目、浣熊科、小熊猫属，而大熊猫属于食肉目、大熊猫科、大熊猫属，所以小熊猫与大熊猫的亲缘关系较远，最多只能算“远房亲戚”。

In fact, the red panda belongs to the order Carnivora, family Raccoonidae, genus Lesser Panda, while the giant panda belongs to the order Carnivora, family Giant Panda, genus Giant Panda, so they are remotely related and is only at best a distant relative.

虽然小熊猫和大熊猫亲缘关系较远，二者却有着“趋同演化”。两种动物同属食肉动物，但却以食素为主，食肉为辅，主食为竹子。由于竹子的营养低，且它们无法消化大部分植物纤维，所以只能每天花大量的时间吃大量的竹子。为了握竹子，小熊猫和大熊猫的前肢都长着一根“伪拇指”。

Although distantly related, they have the tendency for convergent evolution. Both species are carnivores, mainly vegetarians and sometimes meat eaters, having bamboo as their staple food. However, bamboo is low in nutrients and they cannot digest most plant fibres, so they have to spend a lot of time each day eating large quantities of bamboo.They both have a "pseudo-thumb" on their forelimbs to hold the bamboo.

小熊猫有两个亚种：指名亚种和川西亚种。指名亚种全身为棕红褐色，分布于西藏、云南以及尼泊尔、不丹、印度东北部等地。川西亚种仅分布于四川省，全身为深红褐色，体型稍大，颜色较深。

There are two subspecies of red panda: the nominate subspecies and the western Sichuan subspecies. The former is reddish-brown all over and can be found in Tibet, Yunnan, as well as Nepal, Bhutan and northeastern India. The latter is found only in Sichuan Province and is reddish-brown, slightly larger in shape and darker in colour.