The unique coloration①coloration 英 [k?l?'re??(?)n] 美 [,k?l?'re??n]n. 著色；染色of the giant panda that is loved by many people has long been a mystery to scientists.

The black and white patches on the giant panda mainly have two functions- camouflage②camouflaɡe 英 ['k?m?flɑ??] 美 ['k?m?'flɑ?]n. 偽裝，掩飾vt. 偽裝，掩飾vi. 偽裝起來and communication, the joint research team from University of California, Davis, and California State University,Long Beach explains.

The giant panda's white face, nape, dorsum③dorsum 英 ['d??s?m] 美 ['d?rs?m] n. 背部, flank,belly, and rump④rump 英 [r?mp] 美 [r?mp]n. （人的）臀部，（動物的）尾部；殘余，渣滓are adapted for crypsis against a snowy background, whereas its black shoulders and legs are adapted for crypsis in shade, according to the study that published in the journal of Behavioral Ecology on Feb. 28.

However, dark markings on the head are not used in crypsis,but in communication: dark ears may be involved with signaling intent about ferocity⑤ferocity 英 [f?'r?s?t?] 美 [f?'rɑs?ti] n. 兇猛；殘忍；暴行whereas dark eye marks may serve in individual recognition, according to the study.

"Understanding why the giant panda has such striking coloration has been a difficult probiem because virtually⑥virtually 英 ['v??t???li] 美 'v?rt?u?li]adv. 事實上，幾乎；實質(zhì)上no other mammal⑦mammal 英 ['m?m(?)l] 美 ['m?ml]n. [脊椎] 哺乳動物has this appearance, making analogies⑧analogy 英 [?'n?l?d??] 美 [?'n?l?d?i]n. 類比；類推；類似difficult," said Dr. Tim Karo, the lead researcher.

大熊貓很受人們的喜愛，但是對科學(xué)家來說，它們那獨(dú)特的皮毛顏色一直都是一個謎。

據(jù)來自加州大學(xué)戴維斯分校和長灘加州國立大學(xué)的聯(lián)合研究團(tuán)隊表示稱，大熊貓身上黑白兩色斑塊主要有兩個功能——偽裝和溝通。

他們的研究成果發(fā)表在了《行為生態(tài)學(xué)》2月28日一期上，表示稱熊貓的臉、頸、背、腰、腹、臀等部位呈白色，在雪地里就是一種偽裝；而它的肩膀和腿等黑色部位則適合隱蔽在陰影里。

但是據(jù)該研究表示，熊貓頭上的黑斑不是用來隱蔽自己的，而是用來通信的：黑色的耳朵意思可能是“我很兇，別惹我”，而眼睛周圍那圈黑色可能是熊貓的“身份證”。

該研究領(lǐng)導(dǎo)者提姆·卡羅博士表示稱：“理解熊貓為什么具有這么令人吃驚的顏色是生物學(xué)中一直以來都是個難題，因為幾乎沒有其他哺乳動物和熊貓一樣。”