document_title: Snow in Florida

question_text: when was the last time florida got snow

question_tokens: when was the last time florida got snow

text: Snow in Florida

text: Events[edit]

text: Due to larger populations and more advanced communication networks, snow events are witnessed and reported much more frequently in recent years than in historical eras. Interpretations of this timeline must therefore be made with caution, as observed patterns may not reflect actual climate-related trends in annual snowfall but rather improved reporting.

text:
December 19, 1765: A "white frost" fell in the northern part of the British colony of East Florida "of short duration, and of no material detriment to the agricultural interests."[7]
1774: A snowstorm extended across much of the territory. The affected residents spoke of it as an "extraordinary white rain."[1][8]
January 10/11, 1800: Land surveyor Andrew Ellicott erected an observatory at Point Peter, a location near the mouth of Saint Marys River, now in the far southeast side of the City of St. Marys, Georgia. After recording a sunrise temperature of 37 °F (3 °C), he observed "snow and hail the whole day" until 10 pm. The temperature then fell below freezing, the wind shifted to northwesterly, and the skies cleared at midnight. At sunrise the morning of January 11, he reported snow 5 inches (130 mm) deep and a temperature of 28 °F (−2 °C).[2][9] This snowstorm perhaps extended from Louisiana to Georgia.[10]
January 13, 1852: Snow fell all morning, accumulating to 0.5 inches (13 mm) at Jacksonville.[1]
February 28, 1855: A few flakes of snow fell at Jacksonville.[1]
January 29, 1868: Light sleet fell during the night at Jacksonville.[1]
February 28, 1869: During the morning, snow flurries fell at Jacksonville.[1]
January 10, 1873: At 7:25 am, a few snowflakes fell at Jacksonville.[1]
February 4/5, 1875: Between midnight and sunrise on both dates, light sleet occurred.[1]
December 1, 1876: According to the observer at Punta Rassa, Florida, snow fell for 5 minutes on the morning of December 1.[11]
January 4/5, 1879: At Jacksonville at 7 pm, sleet began, which turned to rain 90 minutes later. The freezing rain covered trees, shrubbery, and everything else outdoors by morning. The weight of the ice broke the limbs of many orange trees.[1] At Fernandina, snow occurred.[12]
December 5, 1886: At Pensacola, following a heavy rain and wind storm, light snow fell from 4:25 pm to 8:20 pm, accumulating to 1.5 inches (38 mm).[13]
January 5, 1887: 1 inch (25 mm) of snow fell at Pensacola,[14] and sleet fell elsewhere in the state.[15]
January 14, 1892: 0.4 inches (10 mm) of snow was reported at Pensacola.[14] The first snowfall of the season occurred at Fort Barrancas. Monthly snowfall totaled 0.5 inches (13 mm) at Pensacola.[16]
January 17, 1892: At 10:30 am, sleet fell for a few minutes only at Madison, Florida.[17]
February 14, 1892: Pensacola reported 3 inches (76 mm) of snow.[18]
December 26/27, 1892: On both days, precipitation fell as sleet and snow at Pensacola. On December 26, sleet also occurred at Cerro Gordo, Florida, and slight trace of snow fell at Tallahassee. On December 27, a slight trace fell at Moseley Hall, Madison County, Florida.[19] At intervals during daytime on December 27, light snow flurries occurred at Jacksonville.[1]
January 16–19, 1893: On January 16, snow occurred at Palatka. On January 17, sleet fell at Oxford, and at Pensacola. Shortly after midnight on January 18, sleet began in the city of Jacksonville and then turned to snow and then to rain.[1] That day, sleet also fell at Moseley Hall, Pensacola, and Tallahassee, and snow occurred at Lawtey. On January 18 and 19, sleet fell at Bristol.
December 29, 1894: Brooksville reported snowfall from 9 am to 11 am, and a few flakes fell at Mosquito Lagoon near Oak Hill, Florida. The press reported snow at towns in middle and west Florida. The temperature morning fell to lows unprecedented in decades, and this freeze destroyed 2 million to 3 million boxes of not yet gathered oranges, severely damaged pineapple plants, and killed or destroyed almost all other fruits and vegetables.[20]
February 14, 1895: From 6:22 pm to 6:27 pm, light sleet fell at Jacksonville, followed by light snow until 6:32 pm. At 7:20 pm, light snow resumed until 8 pm.[1] Snow also fell at Tampa, and at Pensacola, snow reportedly reached depths allowing for sleighing.[21]
February 12/13, 1899: At 9:45 pm, rain changed to sleet at Jacksonville. Sleet then changed to snow at 10:15 pm and continued through the night, accumulating to 2 inches (51 mm) before sunrise at 7 am as the temperature plunged to 10 °F (−12 °C).[1] The accumulation reached 4 inches (100 mm) at Lake Butler.[18] In sheltered locations, the snow melted only several days later.[1] This Great Blizzard of 1899 also affected much of the rest of the American South.

text: 20th century (21 reported events)[edit]

text:
December 16, 1901: At 1 pm, light snow fell at Jacksonville; at intervals through the afternoon, sleet followed.[1]
February 7, 1907: During the afternoon, a light snow flurry occurred "in the immediate vicinity" of the city of Jacksonville.[1]
November 27, 1912: An overnight period of snow covers the ground and trees with a 0.5-inch (13 mm) layer in northern Florida.[22]
January 22/23, 1935: Snow falls until the next morning, with Pensacola recording 1 inch (25 mm).[14]

Picture of the December 23, 1989, Jacksonville snowfall

February 8/9, 1947: A cold wave entering from Canada, accompanied by winds of up to 80 miles per hour (130 km/h; 36 m/s), causes snow as far south as Clearwater.[23]
February 2/3, 1951: Snowfall accumulates to 2.0 inches (51 mm) at Saint Augustine and Crescent City.[18]
December 14, 1952: Sleet and snow falls across the northern portion of the state, though there is very little accumulation.[24]
December 14, 1953: Light sleet occurs in the morning in Marianna.[24]
March 6, 1954: 4 in (100 mm) of snow accumulates at Milton Experimental Station, Santa Rosa County, within a 24-hour period, the highest such total for Florida according to official modern records.[25]
March 28, 1955: Snowfall accumulates to 1 inch (25 mm) in Marianna along the Florida Panhandle.[26]
February 13, 1958: An overnight rainfall changes to snowfall in Jacksonville and accumulates to 1.5 inches (38 mm).[2] Additionally, Tallahassee reports a record 2.8 inches (71 mm).[18]
February 9, 1973: Snow falls over the northern portion of the state, including a total of 2.0 inches (51 mm) in Pensacola, with unofficial reports of up to 8 inches (200 mm).[18]
January 18, 1977: The pressure gradient between a strong ridge over the Mississippi Valley and a Nor'easter over Atlantic Canada sends very cold temperatures southward into the state. Areas around Pensacola are the first to receive the snow, then the rest of The Panhandle. Followed by record accumulations for The Nature Coast, the I-4 corridor (both Orlando and Tampa (one tenth to a quarter inch) receive light accumulations of 1 inch (25 mm) to 2 inches (51 mm) with a few isolated spots reportedly receiving 3 inches (76 mm) to 6 inches (150 mm)), and finally South Florida. By early morning before sunrise on January 19, West Palm Beach reported snow for the first time on record, with snow flurries reaching as far south as Homestead. The snow causes little impact as it was of the dry variety, though the accompanying cold air results in hundreds of millions of dollars in damage (Orlando tied the 1899 record of over six consecutive nights well-below freezing). On January 20, The Miami Herald reports the event as the front page story, with a headline of a size usually reserved for the declaration of war.[27]
Late January 1977: Pensacola receives snowfall.[27]
March 2, 1980: About 0.25 inches (6.4 mm) of snow covers car tops and patio furniture in Jacksonville.[2]
March 1, 1986: 0.5 inches (13 mm) of snow accumulates overnight in Jacksonville before melting within 30 minutes due to the morning sun.[2]
December 23/24, 1989: Light rain in Jacksonville turns to freezing rain as temperatures drop, and later changes to snow. The snow totals several inches in some locations, and results in the first White Christmas in the city's history.[2] Light snow falls across central Florida as far south as southern Pinellas County on the 23rd, though the official weather station in St. Petersburg experiences only a light sleet.[28][29]
March 12, 1993: The 1993 Storm of the Century produces up to 4 inches (100 mm) of snow along the Florida Panhandle.[30]
January 8, 1996: Snow flurries are reported from Crystal River to New Port Richey with no accumulation.[31]
December 18, 1996: A plume of cold air causes snow to form in the northwestern portion of Escambia County.[32]

text: 21st century (16 reported events)[edit]

text:
January 24, 2003: A plume of Arctic air produces widespread record low temperatures and light snow flurries along the eastern coastline. The snow is described as ocean-effect snow, identical to lake effect snow in that it occurs due to very cold air passing over relatively warm water temperatures. The snow reaches as far south as Fort Pierce.[33]
December 25, 2004: Locations along the Florida Panhandle receive a dusting of snow.[34]
November 21, 2006: An eastward-moving weather system produces a very light dusting and snowflakes in central Florida. It is the first snow in November in the state since 1912.[34]
February 3, 2007: Very light snow flurries are reported in the northeastern panhandle, lasting less than an hour.[35]
January 3, 2008: Light snow flurries are reported near Daytona Beach.[36]
January 8/9, 2010: Very light dusting of snow seen in the eastern Jacksonville area. Light snow also fell in parts of central Florida, which briefly accumulated in Ocala and other parts of Marion County. A "wintry mix" of sleet and freezing rain was widespread, with reports of light snow across central Florida from Tampa to Orlando to Melbourne.[37] Isolated flurries were even reported from West Palm Beach to as far south as Kendall and sleet in a few spots in the South Florida metropolitan area for only the second time in recorded history and first time since 1977.[38]
February 12, 2010: Portions of northwestern Florida experience snowfall totals of around 1 in (25 mm).[39]
February 14, 2010: 0.5 inches (13 mm) of snow fell across the northern halves of Escambia, Santa Rosa, Walton and Okaloosa Counties.[40]
December 8, 2010: Snow mixed with rain is reported in western parts of the panhandle, north of Pensacola.[41]
December 26, 2010: A mix of snow and sleet was reported in Jacksonville by the National Weather Service.[42]
December 28, 2010: Light snow was reported at Tampa Executive Airport in eastern Hillsborough County at 01:00 and 05:00 local time, following a rare freezing fog event around midnight.[43]
January 9, 2011: Sleet is reported in the Pensacola area, as well as other places in Escambia and Santa Rosa counties. There was no accumulation.[44]
January 24–25, 2014: Sleet and light snow are reported in Escambia, Santa Rosa, and Okaloosa counties.[45] Very light sleet is reported at a few locations around Jacksonville.[46]

Snowfall forecast for 28–29 January 2014, predicting over 1 inch of snow in northwest Florida.

January 28–29, 2014: A major winter storm event resulted in a mixture of freezing rain (with ice accumulation), sleet, and snow across most of the Panhandle between the afternoon of the 28th and morning of the 29th. Due to dangerous ice accumulation, the Florida Highway Patrol and FDOT closed several bridges in the Panhandle and advised against non-essential travel.[47] Many state and local government offices were closed around mid-day on the 28th.[48] In Santa Rosa county, officials cautioned that ice-laden tree limbs were hanging low enough to hit vehicles.[49] Between 1 and 9:30 PM on the 28th, 21,633 Gulf Power customers lost power at some point.[50] At 2 PM EST on January 28, Pensacola was 31 °F (−1 °C) with freezing rain while Immokalee, near Fort Myers, was 86 °F (30 °C). Pensacola received 1.8 inches (46 mm) of snow on January 28.[51] On January 29, the Florida Highway Patrol closed nearly 200 miles (320 km) of Interstate 10 from the Florida-Alabama state line to Gadsden County, directing resources and traffic to U.S. 90.[52] Pensacola International Airport closed at 9:17 PM January 28 and was not scheduled to reopen until late on the 29th.[53]
January 8, 2015: Snow flurries are reported in various locations around Jacksonville. The event is attributed to ocean-effect snow.[54][55]
January 22–23, 2016: Snow flurries are reported along the Florida panhandle, as far east as the Jacksonville area,[56] and as far south as the Gainesville area.[57]


document_title: Roots (1977 miniseries)

question_text: who played kunta kinte's father in roots

question_tokens: who played kunta kinte 's father in roots

root

text: Roots (1977 miniseries)

text: Plot[edit]

text: Colonial times[edit]

text: In The Gambia, West Africa, in 1750, Kunta Kinte is born to Omoro Kinte (Thalmus Rasulala), a Mandinka warrior, and his wife, Binta (Cicely Tyson). When Kunta (LeVar Burton) reaches the age of 15, he and a group of other adolescent boys take part in tribal manhood training, ending with a ceremony, after which they become recognized as men and Mandinka warriors. While trying to carry out a task to catch a bird and take it home unharmed, Kunta sees white men carrying firearms, along with their black collaborators. Later, while fetching wood outside his village to make a drum for his younger brother, Kunta is captured by black collaborators under the direction of white men. He is then sold to a slave trader and placed aboard a ship under the command of Capt. Thomas Davies (Edward Asner) for a three-month journey to Colonial America. During the voyage a group of rebels among the human cargo try but fail to stage a mutiny and to take over the ship.

tag: p

text: The ship eventually arrives in Annapolis, Maryland, in 1767, where the captured Africans are sold at auction as slaves. John Reynolds (Lorne Greene), a plantation owner from Spotsylvania County, Virginia, near Fredericksburg, buys Kunta and gives him the name Toby. Reynolds assigns an older slave, Fiddler (Louis Gossett Jr.), to teach Kunta to speak English and to train him in the ways of living and working as a chattel slave. Kunta, in a persistent struggle to become free again, makes several unsuccessful attempts to escape. Further, to preserve his Mandinka heritage and maintain his Mandinka roots, he wants not to change his name, and he resists such a change. An overseer, Ames (Vic Morrow), gathers the slaves and directs one of them to whip Kunta after his latest attempt to escape and to continue whipping him until he finally acknowledges his new name. For events that occur in 1775, between the above period and the post-Revolutionary War, where the next section begins, see Roots: The Gift.

text: Late 18th century[edit]

text:
Part of a series on
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tag: table

text: In 1776 the adult Kunta Kinte (John Amos) experiences serving as a chattel slave and feels haunted by his Mandinka roots and his memories of freedom at home in Africa. John Reynolds, his owner, does not receive as much cash as he has expected from the sale of his crop of tobacco, so, to settle a debt to his brother, Dr. William Reynolds (Robert Reed), the local physician, transfers several of his slaves, including Kunta and Fiddler, to William. Kunta tries again to escape, but a pair of slave-catchers seize him, bind him, and chop off about half his right foot (to limit his ability to run away again). Kunta meets Bell (Madge Sinclair), the cook for William's family. Bell successfully treats both Kunta's mangled foot and his wounded spirit. By 1780 he eventually submits to the harsh life, and he marries Bell in a ceremony, which includes jumping across a broom. Bell bears a daughter, to whom Kunta gives the name Kizzy, which means "stay put" in the Mandinka language. Fiddler continues to mentor and befriend Kunta, and Fiddler eventually dies at an old age in 1790.

text: Turn of the 19th century[edit]

text: An adulterous relationship between Dr. William Reynolds and John Reynolds's wife (Lynda Day George) produces a daughter, Anne, whom John apparently believes to be his own offspring. Missy Anne (Sandy Duncan) and Kizzy (Leslie Uggams), about two years younger than Anne, become playmates and best friends within the social limits of the plantation culture. Anne secretly teaches Kizzy to read and write, and both Anne and Bell, Kizzy's mother, strictly and severely caution Kizzy to avoid allowing anyone else to learn about her clandestine and forbidden education. In 1806 Kizzy, in her teen years, falls in love with Noah (Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs), another slave at William's plantation, but Noah runs away and is caught and returned. During a beating Noah reveals that Kizzy has forged for him a traveling pass by copying a similar pass which Anne has given to Kizzy. William has previously assured his slaves that he would keep them all together at his plantation, not selling away any of them against their will as long as they "follow the rules". However, William regards the pass and the escape to be such serious breaches of trust that he separately sells both Noah and Kizzy. Much weeping and wailing attend the departure of Kizzy, who desperately reaches out to Anne for help, only to be coldly shunned by her for helping Noah in his escape. William sells Kizzy to Tom Moore (Chuck Connors), a planter in Caswell County, North Carolina, who promptly rapes her, impregnating her with a son, to whom he gives the name George.

text: Early 19th century[edit]

text: In 1824 Sam Bennett (Richard Roundtree), a fancy carriage driver and a suitor who seeks to impress, takes Kizzy for a short visit to the plantation of Dr. William Reynolds, in the hope that she can see her parents. Kizzy learns that Bell has been sold away, and that Kunta has died two years back. Kizzy sees her father's grave and his wooden marker; using a small stone, she scratches over the name Toby and writes below it "Kunta Kinte". George (Ben Vereen), under the tutelage of Mingo (Scatman Crothers), an older slave, learns much about cockfighting, and, by direction of Tom Moore, their master, George takes over as the chief trainer, the "cock of the walk". George befriends a free black man and fellow cockfighter, who informs him about the possibility of buying his own freedom. In 1841, a now adult George continues to believe Moore to be a friend until he realizes his master's true feeling when he and his family are threatened at gunpoint by Moore and his wife, as a result of the Nat Turner rebellion. Although none of Moore's slaves are personally involved in the rebellion, they become victims of the paranoid suspicions of their master, so they start planning to buy their freedom. In an emotional scene Kizzy reveals to George the identity of his father.

text: George becomes an expert in cockfighting, thus earning for himself the moniker "Chicken George". Squire James (Macdonald Carey), Moore's main adversary in the pit, arranges for a British owner, Sir Eric Russell (Ian McShane), and twenty of his cocks to visit and to participate in the local fights. Moore eventually bets a huge sum on his best bird, which George has trained, but he loses, and he cannot pay. Under the terms of a settlement between Moore and Russell, George goes to England to train cocks for Russell and to train more trainers and is forced to leave behind Kizzy (his mother), Tildy (Mathilda, his wife) (Olivia Cole), and his sons, Tom and Lewis (Georg Stanford Brown and Hilly Hicks). Moore promises to set George free after George returns. In one brief scene Kizzy and Anne Reynolds, both elderly, face each other one last time, and Missy Anne denies that she "recollects" a "darkie by the name of Kizzy". Kizzy then spits into Anne's cup of water without Anne's realizing.

text: The Civil War[edit]

text: George returns 14 years later, in 1861, shortly before the start of the Civil War. He proudly announces that Moore, after some reluctance on Moore's part and some persuasion on George's part, has kept his word by granting George his freedom. He learns that Kizzy has died two months before, that Tom and Lewis now belong to Sam Harvey (Richard McKenzie), that Tom (Georg Stanford Brown) has become a blacksmith on the Harvey plantation, and that Tom has a wife, Irene (Lynne Moody), and two sons. He also learns that his relatives have spoken well of him during his absence. He further learns that, according to a law in North Carolina, if he stays 60 days in that state as a freed slave, he will lose his freedom, so he heads northward, seeking the next stage in his career as a cockfighter and awaiting the end of the war, the emancipation of the slaves, and another reunion of his family.

text: While the war continues to its inevitable end, a hungry and destitute young white couple from South Carolina, George and Martha Johnson (Brad Davis and Lane Binkley), arrive and ask for help, and the slave family take them in. Martha soon gives birth, but the child is stillborn. The white couple stays on with Tom and his wife, and becomes a part of their community. Tom Harvey meets harassment at the hands of two brothers, Evan and Jemmy Brent (Lloyd Bridges and Doug McClure). Eventually, a month before the surrender by the South, Jemmy deserts the Confederate Army during the final desperate days of the war, and he shows up at Tom's blacksmith shop. Tom reluctantly runs an errand for him but, on returning, he finds Jemmy trying to rape Irene, and in the resulting fight Tom drowns him in the quenching tub. Later Evan, now an officer in the Confederate cavalry, arrives at the shop, demands to know about Jemmy, gets no answer, and angrily tells Tom that he has not yet finished with him.

text: After the war several local white men, led by Evan Brent and wearing white hoods (made from fabric sacks from Evan's store) begin to harass and terrorize Tom, his family, and other members of his community. Tom emerges as the leader among his group. As the local blacksmith, Tom devises a horseshoeing method to identify the horses involved in the raids by the hooded men. But when Tom reports his suspicions and his evidence to the sheriff, in sympathy with Evan and knowing every member of the white mob, tips off Evan. Evan's mob leads another raid against Tom, during which Tom is whipped savagely. George Johnson, in his capacity as the overseer of the plantation, intervenes and is forced to whip Tom once, to his own horror and disgust, in order to save his friend's life.

text: Meanwhile, the former owner of the farm, Sam Harvey, is forced to surrender all of his property to Senator Arthur Justin (Burl Ives), a local politician intent on acquiring as much land as possible. Under the terms of the surrender, his former slaves are allowed to stay on as sharecroppers, with eventual rights to own a part of the land. However, because no written deed has been filed, the senator deems the agreement void and imposes heavy debts on the black farmers.

text: Postwar[edit]

text: Several years later Chicken George unexpectedly returns, raises the spirits of his relatives and friends, and begins to plot their next step. He reports that he has bought some land in Tennessee. Using some cunning and deception of their own, the group makes preparations for their move away. After one final confrontation with Evan and his gang, George and his company start their trek from North Carolina to Tennessee. In the last scene George and his group arrive on his land in Henning, Lauderdale County, Tennessee, to start their new life. George retells part of the story from Kunta Kinte in Africa to himself in Tennessee. Then Alex Haley briefly narrates a montage of photographs of family members connecting Tom's daughter, Cynthia, a great-great-granddaughter of Kunta Kinte, to Haley himself. For the continuation of the story from the late 19th century into the 20th century, see Roots: The Next Generations

text: Cast[edit]

text: Number in parentheses indicates how many episodes in which the actor/character appears.

text:
LeVar Burton – young Kunta Kinte (2)
Olivia Cole – Mathilda (3)
Louis Gossett Jr. – Fiddler (2)
Ben Vereen – Chicken George Moore (3)
Vic Morrow – Ames (2)
John Amos – older Kunta Kinte/"Toby" (2)
Ji-Tu Cumbuka – Wrestler (2)
Ed Asner – Capt. Davies (2)
Lynda Day George – Mrs. Reynolds (2)
Robert Reed – Dr. William Reynolds (3)
Madge Sinclair – Bell Reynolds (3)
Chuck Connors – Tom Moore (3)
Sandy Duncan – Missy Anne Reynolds (3)
Leslie Uggams – Kizzy Reynolds (2)
Carolyn Jones – Mrs. Moore (3)
Lloyd Bridges – Evan Brent (2)
Georg Stanford Brown – Tom Harvey (2)
Brad Davis – Ol' George Johnson (2)
Lane Binkley – Martha Johnson (2)
Tracey Gold – Young Missy Reynolds (1)
Hilly Hicks – Lewis (2)
Lynne Moody – Irene Harvey (2)
Austin Stoker – Virgil (2)
Ralph Waite – Third mate Slater (2)
Cicely Tyson – Binta (1)
Thalmus Rasulala – Omoro (1)
Moses Gunn – Kintango (1)
Hari Rhodes – Brima Cesay (1)
Ren Woods – Fanta (2)
Ernest Lee Thomas – Kailuba (1)
Lorne Greene – John Reynolds (2)
Scatman Crothers – Mingo (1)
George Hamilton – Stephen Bennett (1)
Lillian Randolph – Sister Sara (2)
Roxie Roker – Malizy (1)
Richard Roundtree – Sam Bennett (1)
Thayer David – Harlan (2)
John Quade – Sheriff Biggs (2)
Maya Angelou – Nyo Boto (1)
O. J. Simpson – Kadi Touray (1)
Beverly Todd – Fanta as an adult (1)
Paul Shenar – John Carrington (1)
Gary Collins – Grill (1)
Raymond St. Jacques – The drummer (1)
Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs – Noah (1)
John Schuck – Ordell (1)
Macdonald Carey – Squire James (1)
Ian McShane – Sir Eric Russell (1)
Doug McClure – Jemmy Brent (1)
Burl Ives – Sen. Arthur Justin (1)
Charles Cyphers – Drake (1)
Brion James – Slaver (1)
Todd Bridges – Bud (1)
Ross Chapman – Sergeant Williams (1)
Grand L. Bush – Captured runaway slave (1)
Yvonne De Carlo – Slave owner's wife (1)

tag: ul

text: Production[edit]

text: The miniseries was directed by Marvin J. Chomsky, John Erman, David Greene, and Gilbert Moses. It was produced by Stan Margulies. David L. Wolper was executive producer. The score was composed by Gerald Fried, and Quincy Jones for only the first episode. ABC television executives "got cold feet" after seeing the brutality depicted in the series and attempted to cut the network's predicted losses by airing the series over eight consecutive nights in January in one fell swoop.[5] The Museum of Broadcast Communications recounts the apprehensions that Roots would flop, and how this made ABC prepare the format:[6]

text: Familiar television actors like American [sic] actor Lorne Greene were chosen for the white, secondary roles, to reassure audiences. The white actors were featured disproportionately in network previews. For the first episode, the writers created a conscience-stricken slave captain (Edward Asner), a figure who did not appear in Haley's novel but was intended to make white audiences feel better about their historical role in the slave trade. Even the show's consecutive-night format allegedly resulted from network apprehensions. ABC programming chief Fred Silverman hoped that the unusual schedule would cut his network's imminent losses—and get Roots off the air before sweeps week.

text: Many familiar white TV actors, like Chuck Connors (from The Rifleman), Lorne Greene (Bonanza and later Battlestar Galactica), Robert Reed (The Brady Bunch), and Ralph Waite (The Waltons), were cast against type as slave holders and traders.

text: Legal issues[edit]

text: Following the success of the original novel and the miniseries, Haley was sued by author Harold Courlander, who asserted that Roots was plagiarized from his own novel The African, published nine years prior to Roots in 1967. The resulting trial ended with an out-of-court settlement and an admission from Haley that certain passages within Roots had been copied from Courlander's work.[7] Separately, researchers refuted Haley's claims that, as the basis for Roots, Haley had traced his own ancestry back through slavery to a very specific individual and village in Africa.[8][9] After a five-week trial in federal district court, Courlander and Haley settled the case with a financial settlement and a statement that "Alex Haley acknowledges and regrets that various materials from The African by Harold Courlander found their way into his book, Roots."[10] During the trial, presiding U.S. District Court Judge Robert J. Ward stated, "Copying there is, period."[11] In a later interview with BBC Television, Judge Ward stated, "Alex Haley perpetrated a hoax on the public."[12] During the trial, Alex Haley had maintained that he had not read The African before writing Roots. Shortly after the trial, however, a minority studies teacher at Skidmore College, Joseph Bruchac, came forward and swore in an affidavit that he had discussed The African with Haley in 1970 or 1971 and had given his own personal copy of The African to Haley, events that took place well before publication of Roots.[13]

text: Broadcast history[edit]

text: Episode list[edit]

text: Roots originally aired on ABC for eight consecutive nights from January 23 to January 30, 1977. In the United Kingdom, BBC One aired the series in six parts, starting with parts 1 to 3 over the weekend of April 8 to April 11th, 1977. The concluding three parts were broadcast on Sunday nights, from April 15 to May 1.[citation needed] The 6-part version screened by the BBC is the version released on home video.

text:
Original run #
Re-edited version #
Approximate time period
Featured Kinte descendant(s)

Kunta Kinte
Kizzy
Chicken George
Tom Harvey

Part I (90m)
1750–1767
Yes

Part II (90m)
1767–1768
Yes

Part III (45m)
Part III (90m)
1776
Yes

Part IV (45m)
1780–1790
Yes
Yes

Part V (45m)
Part IV (90m)
1806
Yes
Yes

Part VI (90m)
1824

Yes
Yes

Part V (90m)
1841–1847

Yes
Yes
Yes

Part VII (45m)
1861–1865

Yes
Yes

Part VIII (90m)
Part VI (90m)
1865–1870

Yes
Yes

text: U.S. Television ratings[edit]

text: The miniseries was watched by an estimated 130 million [14][15][16] and 140[17][18] million viewers total (more than half of the U.S. 1977 population of 221 million – the largest viewership ever attracted by any type of television series in US history as tallied by Nielsen Media Research) and averaged a 44.9 rating[17] and 66% to 80% viewer share[17] of the audience. The final episode was watched by 100 million viewers and an average of 80 million viewers watched each of the last seven episodes.[6] Eighty-five percent of all television homes saw all or part of the miniseries.[6] All episodes rank within the top 100 rated TV shows of all time.[19][20]

text:
Episode
Nielsen Ratings
Date

All-time ranking
Viewers
(millions)
Rating
Share

1
Roots Part I
#82
28.84
40.5%
61%
000000001977-01-23-0000January 23, 1977

2
Roots Part II
#32
31.40
44.1%
62%
000000001977-01-24-0000January 24, 1977

3
Roots Part III
#27
31.90
44.8%
68%
000000001977-01-25-0000January 25, 1977

4
Roots Part IV
#35
31.19
43.8%
66%
000000001977-01-26-0000January 26, 1977

5
Roots Part V
#21
32.54
45.7%
71%
000000001977-01-27-0000January 27, 1977

6
Roots Part VI
#18
32.68
45.9%
66%
000000001977-01-28-0000January 28, 1977

7
Roots Part VII
#50
30.12
42.3%
65%
000000001977-01-29-0000January 29, 1977

8
Roots Part VIII
#3
36.38
51.1%
71%
000000001977-01-30-0000January 30, 1977

text: On February 16–18, 2013, in honor of Black History Month and the 36th anniversary of Roots, cable network BET aired both Roots and its sequel miniseries, Roots: The Next Generations. Celebrating the 35th anniversary of Roots, BET premiered the miniseries on a three-day-weekend showing in December 2012, which resulted in its being seen by a total of 10.8 million viewers, according to Nielsen ratings, and became the number-one Roots telecast in cable-television history. As for the BET network, its 35th-anniversary airing of Roots became its best "non-tentpole" weekend in the network's history. On Sunday, October 18, 2015, TVOne rebroadcast Roots in high definition.

text: DVD release[edit]

text: Warner Home Video, which released a 25th-anniversary 3-disc DVD edition of the series in 2002, released a four-disc (three double-sided, one single-sided) 30th-anniversary set on May 22, 2007. Bonus features include a new audio commentary by LeVar Burton, Cicely Tyson and Ed Asner among other key cast members, "Remembering Roots" behind-the-scenes documentary, "Crossing Over: How Roots Captivated an Entire Nation" featurette, new interviews with key cast members and the DVD-ROM "Roots Family Tree" feature.

text: Awards and nominations[edit]

text: This section does not cite any sources. Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (October 2016) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

text: Primetime Emmy Awards:

text:
Best Director in a Drama Series – David Greene for "Part I"
Best Actor in a Drama or Comedy Series, Single Appearance – Louis Gossett Jr.
Best Editing in a Drama Series – Neil Travis for "Part I"
Best Limited Series
Best Music Composition for a Series – Dramatic Underscore – Gerald Fried and Quincy Jones for "Part I"
Best Sound Editing in a Series
Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy or Drama Series, Single Appearance – Edward Asner
Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy or Drama Series, Single Appearance – Olivia Cole
Best Writing in a Drama Series – Ernest Kinoy and William Blinn for "Part II"

text: Golden Globe Awards:

text: Best TV Series – Drama

text: Primetime Emmy Awards:

text:
Best Actor in a Drama or Comedy Series, Single Appearance – LeVar Burton for "Part I"
Best Actor in a Drama or Comedy Series, Single Appearance – John Amos
Best Actor in a Drama or Comedy Series, Single Appearance – Ben Vereen
Best Actress in a Drama or Comedy Series, Single Appearance – Madge Sinclair
Best Actress in a Drama or Comedy Series, Single Appearance – Leslie Uggams
Best Art Direction or Scenic Design in a Drama Series ("Part II")
Best Art Direction or Scenic Design in a Drama Series ("Part VI")
Best Costume Design in a Drama or Comedy Series – Jack Martell for "Part I"
Best Cinematography in Entertainment Programming in a Series – Stevan Larner for "Part II"
Best Cinematography in Entertainment Programming in a Series – Joseph M. Wilcots for "Part VII"
Best Director in a Drama Series – John Erman for "Part II"
Best Director in a Drama Series – Marvin J. Chomsky for "Part III"
Best Director in a Drama Series – Gilbert Moses for "Part VI"
Best Editing in a Drama Series – James T. Heckert and Neil Travis for "Part II"
Best Editing in a Drama Series – (Peter Kirby for "Part III"
Best Editing in a Drama Series – James T. Heckert for "Part VIII"
Best Music Composition for a Series in a Dramatic Underscore – Gerald Fried for "Part VIII"
Best Sound Mixing ("Part I")
Best Sound Mixing ("Part IV")
Best Sound Mixing ("Part VII")
Best Sound Mixing ("Part VIII")
Best Supporting Actor in a Drama or Comedy Series, Single Performance – Moses Gunn
Best Supporting Actor in a Drama or Comedy Series – Ralph Waite
Best Supporting Actor in a Drama or Comedy Series – Robert Reed
Best Supporting Actress in a Drama or Comedy Series – Cicely Tyson
Best Supporting Actress in a Drama or Comedy Series – Sandy Duncan
Best Writing in a Drama Series – M. Charles Cohen for "Part VIII"
Best Writing in a Drama Series – James Lee for "Part V"

text: Golden Globe Awards:

text: Best TV Actress in a Drama – Leslie Uggams

text: Historical accuracy[edit]

text: Remake[edit]

text: The History channel produced a remake of the miniseries after acquiring rights from David L. Wolper's son, Mark Wolper, and Alex Haley's estate. The new eight-hour miniseries, with Mark Wolper as executive producer, drew on Haley's novel and the original miniseries albeit from a contemporary perspective.[21] Lifetime and A&E also simulcast it. Will Packer, Marc Toberoff and Mark Wolper executive produced it, alongside Lawrence Konner and Mark Rosenthal. LeVar Burton, and Korin Huggins co-executive produced it.[22]

text: The four night, eight-hour event series premiered on Memorial Day, May 30, 2016. The ensemble cast includes Forest Whitaker as Fiddler, Anna Paquin as Nancy Holt, Jonathan Rhys Meyers as Tom Lea, Anika Noni Rose as Kizzy, Tip "T.I." Harris as Cyrus, Emayatzy Corinealdi as Bell, Matthew Goode as Dr. William Waller, Mekhi Phifer as Jerusalem, James Purefoy as John Waller, introduces Regé-Jean Page as Chicken George and Malachi Kirby as Kunta Kinte, and Laurence Fishburne as Alex Haley.[23]


document_title: Red panda

question_text: where did you find the red pandas in india

text: Red panda

text: Physical characteristics

text: The head and body length of a red panda measures 50 to 64 cm (20 to 25 in), and its tail is 28 to 59 cm (11 to 23 in). Males weigh 3.7 to 6.2 kg (8.2 to 13.7 lb) and females 3 to 6.0 kg (6.6 to 13.2 lb).[6][7][8] They have long, soft, reddish-brown fur on the upper parts, blackish fur on the lower parts, and a light face with tear markings and robust cranio dental features. The light face has white badges similar to those of a raccoon, but each individual can have distinctive markings. Their roundish heads have medium-sized upright ears, black noses, and blackish eyes. Their long, bushy tails with six alternating transverse ochre rings provide balance and excellent camouflage against their habitat of moss- and lichen-covered trees. The legs are black and short with thick fur on the soles of the paws. This fur serves as thermal insulation on snow-covered or icy surfaces and conceals scent glands, which are also present on the anus.[9]

text: The red panda is specialized as a bamboo feeder with strong, curved and sharp semi-retractile claws[6] standing inward for grasping narrow tree branches, leaves, and fruit. Like the giant panda, it has a “false thumb” which is an extension of the wrist bone. When descending a tree head-first, the red panda rotates its ankle to control its descent, one of the few climbing species to do so.[10]

text: Distribution and habitat

text: The red panda is endemic to the temperate forests of the Himalayas, and ranges from the foothills of western Nepal to China in the east.[11] Its easternmost limit is the Qinling Mountains of the Shaanxi Province in China. Its range includes southern Tibet, Sikkim and Assam in India, Bhutan, the northern mountains of Burma, and in south-western China, in the Hengduan Mountains of Sichuan and the Gongshan Mountains in Yunnan. It may also live in south-west Tibet and northern Arunachal Pradesh, but this has not been documented. Locations with the highest density of red pandas include an area in the Himalayas that has been proposed as having been a refuge for a variety of endemic species in the Pleistocene. The distribution range of the red panda should be considered disjunct, rather than continuous.[6] A disjunct population inhabits the Meghalaya Plateau of north-eastern India.[12]

text: During a survey in the 1970s, signs of red pandas were found in Nepal's Dhorpatan Hunting Reserve.[13] Their presence was confirmed in spring 2007 when four red pandas were sighted at elevations ranging from 3,220 to 3,610 m (10,560 to 11,840 ft).[14] The species' westernmost limit is in Rara National Park located farther west of the Dhorpatan Hunting Reserve.[15] Their presence was confirmed in 2008.[16]

text: The red panda lives between 2,200 and 4,800 m (7,200 and 15,700 ft) altitude, inhabiting areas of moderate temperature between 10 and 25 °C (50 and 77 °F) with little annual change. It prefers mountainous mixed deciduous and conifer forests, especially with old trees and dense understories of bamboo.[6][11]

text: The red panda population in Sichuan Province is larger and more stable than the Yunnan population, suggesting a southward expansion from Sichuan into Yunnan in the Holocene.[17]

text: The red panda has become extirpated from the Chinese provinces of Guizhou, Gansu, Shaanxi, and Qinghai.[18]

text: Distribution of subspecies

text: Distribution of the red panda is disjointed, with two extant subspecies:

text:
Western red panda A. f. fulgens (Cuvier, 1825) lives in the western part of its range, in Nepal, Assam, Sikkim, and Bhutan.
Styan's red panda A. f. styani lives in the east-north-eastern part of its range, in southern China and northern Burma.[19]

text: A. f. styani has been described by Thomas in 1902 based on one skull from a specimen collected in Sichuan.[2] Pocock distinguished A. f. styani from A. f. fulgens by its longer winter coat and greater blackness of the pelage, bigger skull, more strongly curved forehead, and more robust teeth. His description is based on skulls and skins collected in Sichuan, Myitkyina close to the border of Yunnan, and Upper Burma.[9]

text: The Styan's red panda is supposedly larger and darker in color than the Western member of the species, but with considerable variation in both subspecies, and some individuals may be brown or yellowish brown rather than red.[11]

text: The Brahmaputra River is often considered the natural division between the two subspecies, where it makes a curve around the eastern end of the Himalayas, although some authors suggest A. f. fulgens extends farther eastward, into China.

text: Biology and behavior

text: Behavior

text: The red panda is territorial; it is solitary except during mating season. The species is generally quiet except for some twittering, tweeting, and whistling communication sounds. It has been reported to be both nocturnal and crepuscular, sleeping on tree branches or in tree hollows during the day and increasing its activity in the late afternoon and early evening hours. It sleeps stretched out on a branch with legs dangling when it is hot, and curled up with its tail over the face when it is cold.[6] This animal is very heat sensitive, with an optimal “well-being” temperature between 17 and 25 °C (63 and 77 °F), and cannot tolerate temperatures over 25 °C (77 °F).

text: Shortly after waking, red pandas clean their fur somewhat like a cat would, licking their front paws and then rubbing their backs, torsos, and sides. They also rub their backs and bellies along the sides of trees or rocks. Then they patrol their territories, marking with urine and a weak musk-smelling secretion from their anal glands. They search for food running along the ground or through the trees. Red pandas may use their forepaws alternately to bring food to their mouths or place food directly into their mouths.[6]

text: Predators of the red panda include the snow leopard, mustelids, and humans. If they feel threatened or sense danger, they may try to escape by climbing a rock column or tree. If they can no longer flee, they stand on their hind legs to make themselves appear larger and use the sharp claws on their front paws to defend themselves. A red panda, Futa, became a visitor attraction in Japan for his ability to stand upright for ten seconds at a time[citation needed].

text: Diet

text: Red pandas are excellent climbers, and forage largely in trees. They eat mostly bamboo, and may eat small mammals, birds, eggs, flowers, and berries. In captivity, they were observed to eat birds, flowers, maple and mulberry leaves, and bark and fruits of maple, beech, and mulberry.[6]

text: Like the giant panda, they cannot digest cellulose, so they must consume a large volume of bamboo to survive. Their diets consist of about two-thirds bamboo, but they also eat mushrooms, roots, acorns, lichens, and grasses. Occasionally, they supplement their diets with fish and insects. They do little more than eat and sleep due to their low-calorie diets.[20][21]

text: Bamboo shoots are more easily digested than leaves, exhibiting the highest digestibility in summer and autumn, intermediate digestibility in the spring, and lowest digestibility in the winter. These variations correlate with the nutrient contents in the bamboo. Red pandas process bamboo poorly, especially the cellulose and cell wall components. This implies microbial digestion plays only a minor role in their digestive strategy. To survive on this poor-quality diet, they have to eat the high-quality sections of the bamboo plant, such as the tender leaves and shoots, in large quantities, over 1.5 kg (3.3 lb) of fresh leaves and 4 kg (8.8 lb) of fresh shoots daily. This food passes through the digestive tract fairly rapidly (about 2–4 hr) so as to maximize daily nutrient intake.[22] Red pandas can taste artificial sweeteners, such as aspartame, and are the only nonprimates known to be able to do so.[23]

text: Reproduction

text: Red pandas are able to reproduce at around 18 months of age, and are fully mature at two to three years. Adults rarely interact in the wild except to mate. Both sexes may mate with more than one partner during the mating season from mid-January to early March.[24] A few days before birth, females begin to collect material, such as brushwood, grass, and leaves, to build a nest, which is normally located in a hollow tree or a rock crevice. After a gestation period of 112 to 158 days, the female gives birth in mid-June to late July to one to four (usually 1–2) blind and deaf cubs weighing 110 to 130 g (3.9 to 4.6 oz) each.[6]

text: After birth, the mother cleans the cubs, and can then recognize each by its smell. At first, she spends 60% to 90% of her time with the cubs. After the first week, the mother starts spending more time outside the nest, returning every few hours to nurse and groom the cubs. She moves the young frequently among several nests, all of which she keeps clean. The cubs start to open their eyes at about 18 days of age. By about 90 days, they have achieved full adult fur and coloring, and begin to venture out of the nest. They also start eating solid foods at this point, weaning at around six to eight months of age. The cubs stay with their mother until the next litter is born in the following summer. Males rarely help raise the young, and only if they live in pairs or in small groups.[6]

text: A red panda's average lifespan is between eight and 10 years, but individuals have been known to reach 15 years[citation needed].

text: Threats

text: The primary threats to red pandas are direct harvest from the wild, live or dead, competition with domestic livestock resulting in habitat degradation, and deforestation resulting in habitat loss or fragmentation. The relative importance of these factors is different in each region, and is not well understood.[11] For instance, in India, the biggest threat seems to be habitat loss followed by poaching, while in China, the biggest threat seems to be hunting and poaching.[1] A 40% decrease in red panda populations has been reported in China over the last 50 years, and populations in western Himalayan areas are considered to be lower.[18]

text: Deforestation can inhibit the spread of red pandas and exacerbate the natural population subdivision by topography and ecology, leading to severe fragmentation of the remaining wild population. Fewer than 40 animals in four separate groups share resources with humans in Nepal's Langtang National Park, where only 6% of 1,710 km2 (660 sq mi) is preferred red panda habitat. Although direct competition for food with domestic livestock is not significant, livestock can depress bamboo growth by trampling.[25]

text: Small groups of animals with little opportunity for exchange between them face the risk of inbreeding, decreased genetic diversity, and even extinction. In addition, clear-cutting for firewood or agriculture, including hillside terracing, removes old trees that provide maternal dens and decreases the ability of some species of bamboo to regenerate.[11]

text: In south-west China, red pandas are hunted for their fur, especially for the highly valued bushy tails, from which hats are produced. In these areas, the fur is often used for local cultural ceremonies. In weddings, the bridegroom traditionally carries the hide. The "good-luck charm" red panda-tail hats are also used by local newly-weds.[18] This practice may be quite old, as the red panda seems to be depicted in a 13th-century Chinese pen-and-ink scroll showing a hunting scene. Little or no mention of the red panda is made in the culture and folklore of Nepal.[26]

text: In the past, red pandas were captured and sold to zoos. Angela Glatston reported she had personally handled 350 red pandas in 17 years.[27]

text: Due to CITES, this zoo harvest has decreased substantially in recent years, but poaching continues, and red pandas are often sold to private collectors at exorbitant prices. In some parts of Nepal and India, red pandas are kept as pets.[28]

text: The red panda has a naturally low birth rate (usually one single or twin birth per year), and a high death rate in the wild[citation needed].

text: Conservation

text: The red panda is listed in CITES Appendix I.[29] The species has been classified as endangered in the IUCN Red List since 2008 because the global population is estimated at about 10,000 individuals, with a decreasing population trend; only about half of the total area of potential habitat of 142,000 km2 (55,000 sq mi) is actually being used by the species. Due to their shy and secretive nature, and their largely nocturnal habits, observation of red pandas is difficult. Therefore, population figures in the wild are determined by population density estimates and not direct counts.[1]

text: Worldwide population estimates range from fewer than 2,500[24] to between 16,000 and 20,000 individuals.[12] In 1999, the total population in China was estimated at between 3,000 and 7,000 individuals.[18] In 2001, the wild population in India was estimated at between 5,000 and 6,000 individuals.[12] Estimates for Nepal indicate only a few hundred individuals.[30] No records from Bhutan or Burma exist.

text: Reliable population numbers are hard to find, partly because other animals have been mistaken for the red panda. For instance, one report from Burma stated that red pandas were still fairly common in some areas, and was accompanied by a photograph of a "red panda" as proof. The photograph in question depicted a species of civet.[31]

text: The red panda is protected in all range countries, and hunting is illegal.[1] Beyond this, conservation efforts are highly variable between countries:

text:
China has 35 protected areas covering about 42.4% of red panda habitat.[1]
India has 20 protected areas with known or possible red panda populations in Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, and West Bengal such as Khangchendzonga National Park, Namdapha National Park, and Singalila National Park, and a coordinated conservation policy for the red panda.[1]
In Nepal, known populations occur in Langtang National Park, Sagarmatha National Park, Makalu Barun National Park, Rara National Park, Annapurna Conservation Area, Kanchenjunga Conservation Area, and in Dhorpatan Hunting Reserve.[32]
Bhutan has five protected areas that support red panda populations.[1]
Burma has 26 protected areas, of which at least one hosts red panda populations.[1]

text: In situ initiatives

text: A community-managed forest in Ilam District of eastern Nepal is home to 15 red pandas which generate household income through tourism activities, including home stays. Villagers in the high-altitude areas of Arunachal Pradesh have formed the Pangchen Red Panda Conservation Alliance comprising five villages with a community-conserved forest area of 200 km2 (77 sq mi) at an altitude of 2,500 m (8,200 ft) to over 4,000 m (13,000 ft).[33]

text: In captivity

text: The red panda is quite adaptable to living in captivity, and is common in zoos worldwide. By 1992, more than 300 births had occurred in captivity, and more than 300 individuals lived in 85 institutions worldwide.[34] By 2001, 182 individuals were in North American zoos alone.[35] As of 2006, the international studbook listed more than 800 individuals in zoos and parks around the world. Of these, 511 individuals of subspecies A. f. fulgens were kept in 173 institutions[36] and 306 individuals of subspecies A. f. styani were kept in 81 institutions.[37]

text: The international studbook is currently managed at the Rotterdam Zoo in the Netherlands. In cooperation with the International Red Panda Management Group, they coordinate the Species Survival Plan in North America, the European Endangered Species Programme in Europe, and other captive-breeding programs in Australia, India, Japan, and China.[37][38] In 2009, Sarah Glass, curator of red pandas and special exhibits at the Knoxville Zoo in Knoxville, Tennessee, was appointed as coordinator for the North American Red Panda Species Survival Plan. The Knoxville Zoo has the largest number of captive red panda births in the Western Hemisphere (101 as of August 2011). Only the Rotterdam Zoo has had more captive births worldwide.[36][37]

text: The Padmaja Naidu Himalayan Zoological Park in Darjeeling, India, successfully released four captive-bred red pandas to the wild in August and November 2003.[38]

text: Three red panda cubs were born in captivity at Hamilton Zoo in New Zealand in December 2012, doubling the number held there.[39]

text: As pets

text: The most often cited example of keeping red pandas as pets is the case of former Indian prime minister Indira Gandhi. Pandas were presented to her family as a gift, and they were then housed in "a special tree house".[40]

text: Phylogenetics

text: The taxonomic classification of the red panda has been controversial since it was discovered. French zoologist Frédéric Cuvier initially described the red panda in 1825, and classified it as a close relative of the raccoon (Procyonidae), though he gave it the genus name Ailurus, (from Ancient Greek αἴλουρος, "cat"), based on superficial similarities with domestic cats. The specific epithet is the Latin adjective fulgens, "shining".[41] At various times, it has been placed in the Procyonidae, Ursidae, with Ailuropoda (giant panda) in the Ailuropodinae (until this family was moved into the Ursidae), and into its own family, the Ailuridae. This uncertainty comes from difficulty in determining whether certain characteristics of Ailurus are phylogenetically conservative or are derived and convergent with species of similar ecological habits.[6]

text: Evidence based on the fossil record, serology, karyology, behavior, anatomy, and reproduction reflect closer affinities with Procyonidae than Ursidae. However, ecological and foraging specializations and distinct geographical distribution in relation to modern procyonids support classification in the separate family Ailuridae.[3][6][42]

text: Recent molecular systematic DNA research also places the red panda into its own family, Ailuridae, a part of the broad superfamily Musteloidea that also includes the skunk, raccoon, and weasel families.[5][42][43]

text: It is not a bear, nor closely related to the giant panda, nor a raccoon, nor a lineage of uncertain affinities. Rather it is a basal lineage of musteloid, with a long history of independence from its closest relatives (skunks, raccoons, and otters/weasels/badgers).

text: The two subspecies are A. f. fulgens and A. f. styani. However, the name Ailurus fulgens refulgens is sometimes incorrectly used for A. f. styani. This stems from a lapsus made by Henri Milne-Edwards in his 1874 paper "Recherches pour servir à l'histoire naturelle des mammifères comprenant des considérations sur la classification de ces animaux",[44] making A. f. refulgens a nomen nudum.[9][19] The most recent edition of Mammal Species of the World still shows the subspecies as A. f. refulgens.[3] This has been corrected in more recent works, including A guide to the Mammals of China[45] and Handbook of the Mammals of the World, Volume 1: Carnivores.[46]

text: Evolutionary history

text: The red panda is considered a living fossil and only distantly related to the giant panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca), as it is naturally more closely related to the other members of the superfamily Musteloidea to which it belongs. The common ancestor of both pandas (which also was an ancestor for all living bears; pinnipeds like seals and walruses; and members of the family Musteloidea like weasels and otters) can be traced back to the Early Tertiary period tens of millions of years ago, with a wide distribution across Eurasia.

text: Fossils of the extinct red panda Parailurus anglicus have been unearthed from China in the east to Britain in the west.[47] In 1977, a single tooth of Parailurus was discovered in the Pliocene Ringold Formation of Washington. This first North American record is almost identical to European specimens and indicates the immigration of this species from Asia.[48] In 2004, a tooth from a red panda species never before recorded in North America was discovered at the Gray Fossil Site in Tennessee. The tooth dates from 4.5–7 million years ago. This species, described as Pristinailurus bristoli, indicates that a second, more primitive ailurine lineage inhabited North America during the Miocene. Cladistic analysis suggests that Parailurus and Ailurus are sister taxa.[47][49] Additional fossils of Pristinailurus bristoli were discovered at the Gray Fossil Site in 2010 and in 2012.[50][51] The frequency with which panda fossils are being found at Gray Fossil Site suggests the species played a large role in the overall ecosystem of the area.

text: The discovery in Spain of the postcranial remains of Simocyon batalleri, a Miocene relative to the red panda, supports a sister-group relationship between red pandas and bears. The discovery suggests the red panda's "false thumb" was an adaptation to arboreal locomotion — independent of the giant panda's adaptation to manipulate bamboo — one of the most dramatic cases of convergent evolution among vertebrates.[52]

text: Taxonomic history

text: The first known written record of the red panda occurs in a 13th-century Chinese scroll depicting a hunting scene between hunters and the red panda.[26][34]

text: Major General Thomas Hardwicke’s 1821 presentation of an article titled "Description of a new Genus of the Class Mammalia, from the Himalaya Chain of Hills Between Nepaul and the Snowy Mountains" at the Linnean Society in London is usually regarded as the moment the red panda became a bona fide species in Western science. Hardwicke proposed the name "wha" and explained: "It is frequently discovered by its loud cry or call, resembling the word ‘Wha’, often repeating the same: hence is derived one of the local names by which it is known. It is also called Chitwa." Hardwicke's paper was not published until 1827, by which time Frédéric Cuvier had published his description and a figure. Hardwicke's originally proposed taxonomic name was removed from the 1827 publication of his paper with his permission, and naming credit is now given to Cuvier.[53]

text: Frédéric Cuvier had received the specimen he described from his brother's stepson, Alfred Duvaucel, who had sent it "from the mountains north of India".[54] He was the first to use both the binomial name Ailurus fulgens and the vernacular name panda in his description of the species published in 1825 in Histoire naturelle des mammifères.[55][56] Ailurus is adopted from the ancient Greek word αἴλουρος (ailouros), meaning "cat".[57] The specific epithet fulgens is Latin for "shining, bright".[58] Panda is the French name for the Roman goddess of peace and travellers, who was called upon before starting a difficult journey.[59] Whether this is the origin of the French vernacular name panda remains uncertain. Later publications claim the name was adopted from a Himalayan language.

text: In 1847, Hodgson described a red panda under the name Ailurus ochraceus, of which Pocock concluded it represents the same type as Ailurus fulgens, since the description of the two agree very closely. He subordinated both types to the Himalayan red panda subspecies Ailurus fulgens fulgens.[9]

text: Local names

text: The red panda's local names differ from place to place. The Lepcha people call it sak nam. In Nepal, the species is called bhalu biralo (bear-cat) and habre. The Sherpa people of Nepal and Sikkim call it ye niglva ponva and wah donka.[60] The word wậː is Sunuwari meaning bear; in Tamang language, a small, red bear is called tāwām.[61] In the Kanchenjunga region of eastern Nepal, the Limbus know red pandas as kaala, which literally means dark because of their underside pelage; villagers of Tibetan origin call them hoptongar.[62]

text: Additionally, Pocock lists the vernacular names ye and nigálya ponya (Nepal); thokya and thongwa (Limbu); oakdonga or wakdonka and woker (Bhotia); saknam sunam (Lepcha).[9] Nigálya may originate from the Nepali word निङालो niṅālo or nĩgālo meaning a particular kind of small bamboo, namely Arundinaria intermedia, but also refers to a kind of small leopard, or cat-bear.[63] The word pónya may originate from the Nepali word पञ्जा pajā meaning claw, or पौँजा paũjā meaning paw of an animal.[64] Nigálya pónya may translate to bamboo claw or paw.

text: Nigálya pónya, nyala ponga,[65] and poonya are said to mean eater of bamboo.[66] The name panda could originate from panjā.[67]

text: In modern Chinese, the red panda is called xiăoxióngmāo (小熊猫/小熊貓, lesser or small panda),[68] or 红熊猫/紅熊貓 (hóngxióngmāo, red panda).[69] In contrast, the giant panda is called dàxióngmāo (大熊猫/大熊貓, giant or big panda), or simply xióngmāo (熊猫/熊貓, panda, literally bear-cat).

text: In English, the red panda is also called lesser panda, though "red" is generally preferred.[citation needed] Many other languages also use red or variations of shining/gold or lesser/small in their names for this species. For instance, червена панда in Bulgarian, panda roux in French, and panda rojo in Spanish all mean red panda. Since at least as far back as 1855, one of its French names has been panda éclatant (shining panda).[70] In Finnish, it is called kultapanda (gold panda). Variations of lesser panda occur in French petit panda (small panda), Spanish panda menor (lesser panda), Dutch kleine panda (small panda), Russian малая панда (malaya panda, "small panda"), Korean 애기판다 (aeki panda, "baby panda"), and Japanese レッサーパンダ (ressā panda, a transliteration of English "lesser panda")[citation needed].

text: Other names attributed to this species include fire cat, bright panda, and common panda.[34]

text: Cultural depictions

text: The red panda was recognized as the state animal of Sikkim in the early 1990s,[71] and was the mascot of the Darjeeling Tea Festival.[26]

text: In 2005, Babu, a male red panda at Birmingham Nature Centre in Birmingham, England, escaped[72] and briefly became a media celebrity,[72][73] before being recaptured. He was subsequently voted "Brummie of the Year", the first animal to receive this honor.[72][73] Rusty, a male red panda at the National Zoo in Washington, DC, similarly attracted media attention when he briefly escaped in 2013.[74][75]

text: The name of the Firefox web browser is said to have been derived from a nickname of the red panda.[76][77]

text: An anthropomorphic red panda was featured as Master Shifu, the Kung Fu teacher, in the 2008 film Kung Fu Panda, and its sequels Kung Fu Panda 2 in 2011 and Kung Fu Panda 3 in 2016.[78] The red panda Futa inspired the character of Pabu, the so-called "fire ferret" animal companion (primarily of Bolin), in the U.S. animated TV series The Legend of Korra.[79]