While giant pandas are known for their striking black-and-white coloration, some Qingling pandas, found exclusively in the Qinling Mountains of China's Shaanxi province have a rare brown-and-white coloration.
The Qinling pandas are a distinct subspecies of giant pandas that diverged from the Sichuan giant panda population around 300,000 years ago. They are slightly smaller than typical giant pandas.
The brown-and-white coloration is due to a gene mutation, specifically a base deletion in the pigmentation-related gene Bace2, which impacts melanosomes and determines fur and skin colors, according to a recently published study.
The first brown Qinling panda, a female named Dandan, was discovered in 1985 in Shaanxi province. All brown pandas found in the Qinling Mountains are descendants of Dandan and are endemic to the region.
Around a dozen brown-and-white pandas have been documented so far, and their rarity is attributed to the low probability of both parents carrying the recessive "brown" gene mutation.
Genomic analyses on panda families confirmed that the Bace2 gene mutation leads to light-colored fur in brown-and-white pandas, a new genetic discovery.
The brown coloration in Qinling pandas is a result of natural variation and not inbreeding in a dwindling population.
The mutation in the Bace2 gene appears to be neutral or weakly deleterious, and further studies are needed to understand its full impact on brown pandas.
This article was written in collaboration with Generative AI news company Alchemiq
Sources: globaltimes.cn, Nature, Yahoo News, Science News, and CNN.