![]() In contrast, dark areas are associated with shade in carnivores and ursids, suggesting these parts of the giant panda’s pelage might keep the animal camouflaged in shaded forested areas 12. ![]() Using comparative methods to score coloration, they showed that lighter fur colour correlates with the presence of snow across terrestrial carnivore species, making it plausible that white areas of the giant panda’s body are cryptic against the seasonal snowy background characteristic of the species’ habitat 11. Caro and colleagues 11 used a comparative phylogenetic analysis of carnivores to propose that the giant panda has cryptic body pelage (while the black markings around the eyes and on the ears could be used in communication). With respect to camouflage 8, coloration may facilitate crypsis (i.e., preventing detection), for example through both background matching 9, whereby an animal’s appearance matches the colour, lightness and pattern of its visual background, and disruptive coloration, whereby an animal’s appearance creates false edges or boundaries hindering recognition of its shape 10. To date however, the adaptive significance of its seemingly conspicuous black-and-white coloration remains unresolved. These include intraspecific signalling 3, 4, heat management 3, aposematism 5, 6, and background matching 5, 7, the latter two to avoid predation by tigers ( Panthera tigris), leopards ( Panthera pardus) and dholes ( Cuon alpinus), all of which are suggested to prey on giant pandas, especially young ones 3, 4. Several hypotheses for its strange appearance have been suggested. One is the giant panda ( Ailuropoda melanoleuca), an iconic flagship species of conservation biology which is familiar to a great many people, but the function of its black-and-white coloration has proven puzzling. Most mammals have drab coloration, generally showing brown tones, but there are a small number of well-known exceptions that demand evolutionary explanation 1, 2. Thus, their coloration is an adaptation to provide background matching in the visual environment in which they live and simultaneously to afford distance-dependent disruptive coloration, the latter of which constitutes the first computational evidence of this form of protective coloration in mammals. We also show quantitatively that the species animal-to-background colour matching falls within the range of other species that are widely recognised as cryptic. The results are consistent across acuity-corrected canine, feline, and human vision models. At longer viewing distances giant pandas show high edge disruption that breaks up their outline, and up close they rely more on background matching. The black fur blends into dark shades and tree trunks, whereas white fur matches foliage and snow when present, and intermediate pelage tones match rocks and ground. Using photographs of giant pandas taken in the wild and state-of-the-art image analysis, we confirm the counterintuitive hypothesis that their coloration provides camouflage in their natural environment. The giant panda ( Ailuropoda melanoleuca) is an iconic mammal, but the function of its black-and-white coloration is mysterious.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |