Abstract
The rediscovery of Ailuropoda melanoleuca baconi in the Latest Middle Pleistocene of Northern Thailand extends the geographic distribution of this subspecies southward and completes the recent history of this endangered species. The progressive disappearance of A. m. baconi in Southeast Asia is related to different climatic events (large increase in temperature and rainfall) at the beginning of the last interglacial and then in the Holocene. These events have led to contractions of the distribution area of this animal northward in keeping with the area of temperate bamboos, its favourite food.