Brown-and-white giant pandas are distinct coat color mutants found exclusively in the Qinling Mountains of China.
“Coat color variation has substantial adaptive and cultural value in mammals,” said study’s first author Dr. Dengfeng Guan from the Key Laboratory of Animal Ecology and Conservation Biology at the Chinese Academy of Sciences and colleagues.
“This trait is directly determined by the ratio of eumelanin to pheomelanin, as well as the density and distribution of melanosomes in hair.”
“These factors are under complex regulation by hundreds of genes that influence various aspects of melanogenesis, including melanocyte proliferation and migration, melanin synthesis, and melanosome biogenesis and transfer.”
The giant panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca), one of the most charismatic flagship species, is characterized by its striking black-and-white coat color.
However, the discovery of brown pandas (Ailuropoda melanoleuca qinlingensis) in the Qinling Mountains, Shaanxi province, China, challenges the conventional belief that the panda can never have a color photo.
Recognized as a subspecies of the giant panda, these brown pandas are exceedingly rare, which has undoubtedly made them the treasures of national treasures.
Since the first brown panda was found in 1985, eleven records have been reported by official news or personal communications, of which seven cases have been confirmed with photographs or entities: three from Foping County, two from Yangxian, one from Taibai, and one from Zhouzhi.
All brown pandas were found exclusively in the Qinling Mountains, indicating that they are endemic to this region.
“The first recorded brown panda, a female named Dan Dan, was rescued to Xi’an Zoo from the Foping Nature Reserve in 1985,” the biologists explained.
“She later mated with a black panda, Wan Wan, and gave birth to a male black panda, Qin Qin, in captivity.”
“Dan Dan passed away in 2000, while Qin Qin followed in 2006, leaving no…
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