New research suggests the panda's black and white patterns serve two main functions -- camouflage and communication.

"Understanding why the giant panda has such striking coloration has been a long-standing problem in biology that has been difficult to tackle because virtually no other mammal has this appearance, making analogies difficult," Tim Caro, a professor biology at the University of California, Davis, said in a news release. "The breakthrough in the study was treating each part of the body as an independent area."

Researchers compared the color of different parts of the panda's fur to the markings of other species in order to isolate the most important ecological and behavioral factors.

The analysis -- detailed in the journal Behavioral Ecology -- suggests the panda's white markings on its face, neck, belly and behind help the mammal hide in the snow. The panda's dark arms and legs help the herbivore blend into the shade.

Scientists hypothesize that this balance between light and dark regions -- a compromise between snow and shade camouflage -- is a result of the panda's poor diet. Because the panda's sole food source, bamboo, is rather lacking in nutrients and calories, the mammals must feed all year long, and thus must be able to hide during all four seasons. Most bears store up energy and sleep through the winter.

The panda's markings aren't all about camouflage, however. Scientists hypothesize the bear's black ear and eye markings serve to signal ferocity and aggression to both potential predators and their fellow panda competitors.

"This really was a Herculean effort by our team, finding and scoring thousands of images and scoring more than 10 areas per picture from over 20 possible colors," said Ted Stankowich, a professor at California State University, Long Beach. "Sometimes it takes hundreds of hours of hard work to answer what seems like the simplest of questions: Why is the panda black and white?"

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