XI'AN, Aug. 7 (Xinhua) -- A well-preserved giant panda fossil, dating back at least 10,000 years, has been discovered in a cave in northwest China's Shaanxi Province, the provincial department of natural resources said on Wednesday.

The department received tips in late July from local residents that suspected animal bone fossils had been discovered in the depth of a cave in Chenggu County, Hanzhong City of Shaanxi.

Following an on-the-ground investigation, researchers have preliminarily determined that the fossil belonged to an adult giant panda, presumably a female one. This finding is based on the fossil's skull morphology, dental structure, and sagittal crest development.

The fossil is estimated to date back to a time between the late Middle Pleistocene and the Late Pleistocene of the Quaternary Period, between 200,000 and 10,000 years ago.

"The panda skeleton we found is over 70 percent complete, making it the most intact of its kind uncovered in the province in recent years," said Zeng Zhongcheng, deputy director of the Shaanxi provincial paleontological fossil protection and research center.

It is a significant discovery, said Hu Songmei, a member of the Shaanxi provincial paleontological fossil expert committee, adding that it has helped reveal the survival and evolutionary process of giant pandas that inhabited the junction areas between modern-day Shaanxi and its neighboring provinces. It is also helping map out ancient geography, paleoclimate, and environmental changes during the Pleistocene era.

The fossil bones have been safely transported to Xi'an, the capital city of Shaanxi, ready for specimen restoration and related scientific research. Enditem

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