Page 108 - BBC Wildlife - August 2017 UK

Q&
Q
A
THE PANEL

STUART BLACKMAN
Science writer

AMY-JANE BEER
Naturalist

WWW.DISCOVERWILDLIFE.COM

MIKE TOMS Q
Ornithologist NEW SCIENCE
Why are giant

CHRISTINA HARRISON
pandas black
Author of Bizarre Botany

and white?

RICHARD JONES
Entomologist

A Black and white mammals have proved
something of a problem for biologists.
Decades of investigation have failed to
SARAH MCPHERSON
Q&A editor pin down a robust explanation for the
zebra’s famous stripes. Neither is there
a shortage of possibilities for the panda’s
monochromatic splodges, including heat
retention, camouflage and as a warning
MATT DOGGETT to potential predators.
Marine biologist
The latest analysis suggests that it stems
ultimately from the bears’ nutritionally
poor bamboo diet, which forces them to be
active year-round instead of hibernating over
the winter. In which case, the pattern is a
HELEN ROY Panda: Andy Rouse/naturepl.com (captive); curlew: Dan e e Occhiato/Minden/FLPA; geese: Ann and Steve T oon/Alamy; spider: James Carmichael Jr/NHPA/Photoshot compromise between camouflage in both
Alien species expert
snowy and summer conditions. Even if this
does prove correct, there is probably still
more to it, because there is good evidence
that the black ears and eyes play a role in
communication and individual recognition.
BEN GARROD
Evolutionarybiologist Stuart Blackman

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