Have you ever seen a panda with "faded color"? This article will tell you about brown pandas!

Have you ever seen a brown panda? At the Shaanxi Wildlife Research Center, the panda "Qizi" has brown skin. Experts say "Qizi's completely brown skin is extremely rare compared to other pandas that only have brown spots on their fur." ​​There are actually brown pandas, which is an eye-opener. Today, let's talk about this "different" panda.

01. Brown Panda

What's up with the brown panda? The simplest conclusion: this brown panda is not the same as the giant panda we often talk about. It belongs to a subspecies of the giant panda (some scholars believe it should be recognized as a new species), called the Qinling giant panda, and their color is brown . Although this guy is too brown...

The giant panda we usually refer to is actually the Sichuan giant panda , the black and white one. This is the abstract of the article written by Professor Fang Shengguo when he identified this subspecies. You can just look at the boldfaced text.

Comparison of pelage coloration indicated that Sichuan individuals had black chest patches and white ventral pelages, whereas Qinling pandas had darkbrown chest patches and brown ventral pelages . These results reveal that the diagnostic characteristics of the new Qinling subspecies are a small skull, large molars, darkbrown chest patch, and brown ventral pelage.

In short: Qinling giant pandas are different from Sichuan giant pandas. Unlike Sichuan giant pandas, which have black chest spots and white belly hair, Qinling giant pandas have dark brown chest spots and brown belly hair.

Qinling is the highest latitude where giant pandas exist, and they have experienced an independent evolutionary path. This giant panda is not just a difference in habitat! It is a subspecies of giant panda!

Qinling Giant Panda confirmed as a new subspecies - Chinese Academy of Sciences. Here is the taxonomy of this guy:

Subspecies SheetAiluropoda melanoleuca

02. What is the difference between giant pandas in Qinling and Gansu/Sichuan?

Some friends asked, what is the difference between the Qinling and the giant pandas we are familiar with in Gansu and Sichuan? Let's compare them:

1. The two species are in a subspecies state. The Qinling giant panda and the Sichuan giant panda are separated by the Qinling Mountains. I am looking at them from afar, above the moon.

2. There are genetic differences between the two

In a 2007 paper, scientists discovered that the Qinling giant pandas were clearly a new population.

To prevent you from getting dizzy, I'll post a picture.

Qin: Qinling Giant Panda

MIN: Minshan

LIS: Liangshan

XL: Xiaoxiangling Mountain Range (Liziping Nature Reserve, Sichuan)

3. The two separated early

There are several estimates of the time when the Qinling giant pandas and Sichuan giant pandas were separated, ranging from 50,000 years to 300,000 years.

The separation probably occurred during the penultimate ice age (130,000 to 300,000 years ago).

4. There are differences in morphology between the two

a) Qinling subspecies has smaller skeleton and larger molars

b) Fur coloration, showing that Sichuan giant pandas have black chest spots and white belly hair, while Qinling giant pandas have dark brown chest spots and brown belly hair.

Therefore, when we understand that the Qinling giant panda itself is a brown species, the appearance of pure brown is actually conceivable.

In fact, there have been five records of brown giant pandas since the reform and opening up, in 1985, 1990, 1991, 1992, and 2009. So, it is rare, but definitely not an isolated case.

03. A little talk about fur color

In fact, I think some netizens must be dissatisfied. Why are the giant pandas in Sichuan black and white, while the ones in Qinling are brown? Actually, I can't do anything about this. After all, there are really not many articles on giant pandas, and those involving fur color are even rarer.

Just like why there are white horses and black horses, bears and brown bears, this is really a question. Just like why Deng Gong said white cats and black cats instead of civet cats

In fact, there are many explanations for the determination of coat color, including the single gene theory, the polygene theory, the quantitative trait theory, etc. I will not discuss them here. Anyway, I have not seen any research on the coat color of giant pandas.

There are many coat color genes, such as MC1R, ASIP, TYRP1, and STX17. Maybe giant pandas have their own unique genes to control it. You can certainly explain it by the melanin synthesis of some animals, but whether this theory is universal or not needs further research.

Assuming that the Qinling giant panda has the brown gene BH, the reasons for the full brown color may be as follows:

1. Melanin synthesis is affected

Because the content of trace elements that affect hair pigment synthesis in the soil and water sources in the Qinling area is abnormal, it affects the synthesis of melanin in its hair.

Commonly known as albinism. But if this is the reason, the giant pandas produced in the area should not be isolated cases, but should appear in large numbers.

Second, the theory of gene mutation. I am now immune to gene mutation. It is either the environment or the genes. Faced with countless mutations, which one is responsible?

Third, recessive homozygous. This theory is quite satisfactory. For example, the offspring of the brown giant panda Dandan and the normal giant panda "Wanwan" (what a strange name) in Foping Nature Reserve are normal giant pandas. But, if it is recessive homozygous, the actual probability is still very low! So, what is the reason?

Look at my Ge You lying down 7

Just because I saw you more in the crowd

Beat him up

Attach a document

Zhang B, Li M, Zhang Z, et al. Genetic viability and population history of the giant panda, putting an end to the “evolutionary dead end”?[J]. Molecular Biology and Evolution, 2007, 24(8): 1801-1810.

Article on the classification of Qinling giant pandas

Wan QH, Wu H, Fang S G. A new subspecies of giant panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) from Shaanxi, China[J]. Journal of mammalogy, 2005, 86(2): 397-402.

In conclusion, here are my views on brown pandas:

First of all, the giant pandas we often see are black and white, but the Qinling giant panda is a new subspecies with a dark brown chest and abdomen.

Secondly, the five all-brown giant pandas discovered so far all belong to the Qinling subspecies.

Third, why are there all-brown giant pandas? The reason is unknown

Let me clarify here: I have never used all-brown to represent Qinling giant pandas, otherwise there would not be a second part analyzing why there is such a special case of all-brown (please bypass if you misinterpret it or are trying to be a straw man).