We found out why giant pandas are black and white

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IUnlike many flamboyant species of birds, most of the 5,000 species of mammals are dark brown or gray in color. But there are some well-known and interesting exceptions, most notably zebras, skunks, and orcas.

However, perhaps the most famous, is the giant panda. We already had a preliminary idea of ​​why they had traces, but wanted to finally confirm the reason for its mysterious pattern.

Seen up close at a zoo, the giant panda is a strikingly distinctive mix of a white bear with black forearms, shoulders and hind legs, and an extraordinary face with black fur around the eyes and ears. Comparing these individual body parts with other carnivores (pandas are officially classified as carnivores, contrary to popular belief) and bears, we already knew that white-backed carnivores live in icy environments. are found, and those that have dark legs and shoulders are found in shady habitats. This suggested that the fur was an adaptation for camouflage in different environments.

Nowadays, giant pandas are confined to isolated forests in western China, where there are relatively few predators. But we needed to confirm that camouflage was effective against the giant panda’s former predators—tigers, leopards, Asiatic black bears and dholes, a wild dog—from the days when they were in Vietnam across China.

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Success came when we joined forces with colleagues at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Yong-Gang Nei and Fuwen Wei. They work with giant pandas in the field and had rare pictures of giant pandas in the wild. Importantly, pictures of bears in their natural habitat were taken at a distance from the camera.

We used state-of-the-art image analysis techniques to demonstrate that unique colors really work giant panda disguise,

By matching the reflectance (the amount of light reflected) from the giant panda’s fur with the natural objects in the background, we found that their dark fur patches blend in with darker colors and with tree trunks, while their white patches blend with brighter foliage and Match the snow. , In addition, sometimes the light brown fur tone – muddy fur – matches the color of the ground. It provides an intermediate color that bridges the gap between very dark and very light visual elements in the natural habitat.

These results are consistent whether observed by humans, feline or canine vision models. The visual systems of the domestic dog and cat are well known and are good surrogates for the visual systems of natural predators such as the giant panda, such as tigers and wild dogs.

Next, we examined another form of camouflage – called disruptive coloring – in which highly visible patches on an animal break up its outline by blending with patches in the background.

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We found that giant pandas show this form of defensive coloring, especially when viewed over long distances of at least 60 metres. At these distances, the outline of the giant panda becomes difficult to identify as the dark fur patches blend into the dark rocks and tree trunks in the background.

Finally, we used a novel color mapping technique to compare how well animals merge into their backgrounds in different species, including the giant panda. This comparative analysis confirmed that the background similarity of the giant panda fell solidly within the group of other species, which are traditionally considered to be very well camouflaged, right next to the shore crabs and jerboas, a desert rodent.

So although giant pandas are highly conspicuous to us in zoos or other captive settings, it is because we see them up close and surrounded by artificial backgrounds. But when in the wild and at a distance, our research shows that they camouflage beautifully, using two different mechanisms to evade detection.

Giant pandas are a much-loved species, and are now doing better in the wild thanks to the extraordinary conservation efforts by Chinese officials. The future of this species is therefore cautiously optimistic. Hopefully more people will be able to see pandas in their natural habitat in the future.

Tim Caro, Professor, School of Biological Sciences, University of Bristol, Nick Scott-SamuelProfessor of Experimental Psychology, University of Bristol, And ossi nokelainen, postdoctoral researcher, BioScience University

This article is republished from Conversation Under Creative Commons license. read the original article,

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