Giant panda years ago) from the main ursine stock; since it is the most basal member of the group, it is equidistant from all other extant ursids. The giant panda has been referred to as a living fossil. Despite the shared name, habitat type, and diet, as well as a unique enlarged bone called the "pseudo thumb" (which helps them grip the bamboo shoots they eat) the giant panda and red panda are only distantly related. The word "panda" was borrowed into English from French, but no conclusive explanation of the origin of the French word "panda" has been found. The closest
Tian Tian (female giant panda) 2009. The male cub was named Shen Wei and the female Bo Si. After her arrival at Edinburgh Zoo she had an unsuccessful mating season in 2012. In April 2013 Royal Zoological Society of Scotland performed on her the first artificial insemination procedure on a giant panda in the UK. They later confirm that Tian Tian had become pregnant, but most likely reabsorbed the foetus late term. On 12 August 2014 Iain Valentine, Director of Giant Pandas for the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland, announced that a second implantation had taken place, she was pregnant and birth was expected around