Three-month-old twin pandas Aihin and Meihin play at Adventure World in Shirahama town, central Japan, April 14, 2007. Female Aihin, the older of the two, and male Meihin were born on December 23, 2006, which is the the world's first twin panda birth in the winter season, an Adventure World official said. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo) Photo Gallery>>>

    HAIKOU, Dec. 5 (Xinhua) -- Chinese archaeologists said Wednesday that they have discovered fossils of pandas and apes dating back to 400,000 years ago in south China's Hainan Province.

    The fossils, mostly those of teeth, were first discovered in a quarry site in June 2006 in Changjiang Li Autonomous County by a team of Chinese archaeologists, according to Huang Wanbo, a professor from Chinese Academy of Sciences.

    Huang said the discovery proved that pandas and great apes lived in Hainan about 400,000 years ago and the island was then part of the Chinese mainland.

    Giant pandas are one of the world's most endangered species. Just 1,590 giant pandas are estimated to live in the wild, mostly in southwest China's mountainous regions. By the end of 2006, about 239 giant pandas lived in captivity in China.

 

Spain's Queen Sofia smiles as she stands by the enclosure of Giant Panda "Bing Xing" (Star of Ice) at the Madrid zoo September 19, 2007. Two giant pandas, "Bing Xing" and "Hua Zui Ba",which arrived in Spain on September 8 on a goodwill gesture loan from China, are housed in an air-conditioned pagoda and garden specially built for them at the zoo. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo) Photo Gallery>>>

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