Da xióngmāo vs Cliff Scalewort

Ailuropoda melanoleuca compared with Porella cordaeana

Key Differences

Da xióngmāo is Vulnerable while Cliff Scalewort is Least Concern.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Da xióngmāo	Cliff Scalewort
Kingdom	Animalia (动物界)	Plantae (植物)
Phylum	Chordata (脊索动物门)	Marchantiophyta (地钱门)
Class	Mammalia (哺乳動物)	Jungermanniopsida (叶苔纲)
Order	Carnivora (食肉目)	Porellales (光萼苔目)
Family	Ursidae (Bears)	Porellaceae
Genus	Ailuropoda (Giant Pandas)	Porella
Species	Ailuropoda melanoleuca	Porella cordaeana

Conservation Status

Da xióngmāo

VU — Vulnerable

Population: ~1.9K

Trend: Increasing ↑

Cliff Scalewort

LC — Least Concern

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Da xióngmāo	Cliff Scalewort
Diet	Herbivore	—
Average Lifespan	20 years	—
Average Length	1.5 m	—
Average Weight	100.0 kg	—

Habitat & Geographic Range

Da xióngmāo

Habitat

Found across multiple habitat types including tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests, temperate coniferous forests, and temperate broadleaf and mixed forests, among 7 distinct biome types spanning the Indomalayan and Palearctic realms. Populations are also found in montane and highland environments at higher elevations.

Range

Found in China. Currently classified as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List, this species faces significant conservation challenges across its range.

Cliff Scalewort

Habitat

Native to Europe and North America, inhabiting ecosystems characteristic of the region.

Range

Found across Europe (6 countries) and North America (United States).

Da xióngmāo

大熊猫（Ailuropoda melanoleuca）是中国特有的濒危动物，以其黑白相间的体色和几乎完全依赖竹子的食性而闻名于世。该物种保护状态为易危（VU），是国际野生动物保护的旗舰物种，其种群数量近年来有所回升。

Cliff Scalewort

Cliff Scalewort, Porella obtusata, is a leafy liverwort in the family Porellaceae found on cliff faces, shaded rock surfaces, and the bark of trees in moist, humid environments across Europe and North America. Porella is one of the most diverse and widely distributed leafy liverwort genera, with species adapted to a range of substrates from bark and rock to soil in forests and coastal habitats. Cliff Scalewort forms flat, overlapping mats of small, scale-like leaves arranged in two lateral rows and a row of smaller underleaves, creating a texture that gives the plant its common name. The green to brownish-green plants are tightly appressed to the surface, extracting moisture from rainfall and condensation. Liverworts in this family reproduce sexually when conditions are favorable, producing small capsules on delicate setae, as well as vegetatively through fragmentation. Porella species on cliff faces are sensitive to air pollution, particularly sulfur dioxide, and have declined in many industrial regions of Europe, recovering more recently as air quality has improved. They serve as indicators of habitat continuity and air quality in ecological assessments. Cliff Scalewort is not globally threatened but may be locally rare in heavily polluted or drought-prone areas.