ArticleScientific reports2021
The giant panda is cryptic.
Article in Scientific reports, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 10 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
10 citing papers in PubMed, 24 citations in OpenAlex.
- Phytoliths of bamboo affect the feeding pattern of Giant panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca).Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Predator selection on phenotypic variability of cryptic and aposematic moths.Nature communications · 2024Article
- Automated workflows using Quantitative Colour Pattern Analysis (QCPA): a guide to batch processing and downstream data analysis.Evolutionary ecology · 2024Article
- Habitat geometry rather than visual acuity limits the visibility of a ground-nesting bird's clutch to terrestrial predators.Ecology and evolution · 2023Article
- Signal detectability and boldness are not the same: the function of defensive coloration in nudibranchs is distance-dependent.Proceedings. Biological sciences · 2023Article
- Genetic architecture and evolution of color variation in American black bears.Current biology : CB · 2023Article
- Contrasting coloured ventral wings are a visual collision avoidance signal in birds.Proceedings. Biological sciences · 2022Article
- A comparative study of skin transcriptomes and histological observations for black and white hair colors of giant panda.Frontiers in medicine · 2022Article
- Snake markings facilitate diverse anti-predator functions depending on habitat and viewing angle.Behavioral ecology : official journal of the International Society for Behavioral EcologyArticle
- Highly defended nudibranchs "escape" to visually distinct background habitats.Behavioral ecology : official journal of the International Society for Behavioral EcologyArticle
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors at 3 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
The giant panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) is an iconic mammal, but the function of its black-and-white coloration is mysterious. 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 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. 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 results are consistent across acuity-corrected canine, feline, and human vision models. 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. 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.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.