Abstract: Six complete skeletons of the giant panda were studied for the present paper. Among them, a juvenile specimen is involved.The vertebral column, taken as a whole, is in many respects remarkable among living Carnivora.The number of the thoraco-lumbars in Ailuropoda is seventeen or eighteen, while the trunk vertebrae in the rest of the living Carnivores are nearly always 20 in number. Another remarkable feature is the extraordinary instability of the thoraco-lumbar boundary and the lumbo -sacral boundary. Of six skeletons examined, the rib was asymmetrical on the two sides in three examples, and three different vertebral formulae are represented: T₁₃L₅S₅; T₁₃L₄S₆ and T₁₄L₄S₅ .The number of thoracic vertebrae may be increasad by the formation of ribs on both sides of the first lumbar vertebra, and the number of the lumbar vertebrae may be reduced in this manner or by fusion of a fifth lumbar vertebra to the sacrum.All vertebrae are broadened and depressed. The proportions of the three main divisions of the column differ from other carnivores, as shown in table.There are six sternebrae in each of the six skeletons, all the sternebrae are short, but the xiphisternum is a quite long cartilaginous rod.

摘要： 大熊猫Ailuropoda melanoleuca(David)是我国特有的珍稀动物。关于它的骨学研究,前人的报道多限于头骨和四肢骨,对头骨以外的中轴骨——脊柱和胸廓——则很少涉及,仅Davis(1964)的著作中包括这部分骨学内容,但标本数量较少,且无幼体标本。我们用完整骨骼6例(包括1例幼体)进行了较系统的观察,并和黑熊Sele-narctos thibetanus的成体和幼体、小熊猫Ailurus fulgens、犬Canis familiaris、虎Panthera tigris、狮Panthera leo、云豹Neofelis nebulosa等其他食肉目兽类加以对比,以显示出大熊猫的特点。