Panda bears are restricted to remote mountains in China and have similar-sized bodies today. But fossils show that in years past some were mini-pandas, while others were giants. Plus, they lived in places far-flung from China. A new find described a mini-panda fossil fragment from Spain, reviving questions about the origin, migration, and demise of panda bears through history.

Is the study of origins really important? Important enough to invest in scientific research? The overwhelming answer heard last Saturday at the Dallas Origin Matters Conference was, "Absolutely!"