Why do brown pandas appear?

There is no scientific consensus on why brown giant pandas appear. Currently, scientists have several speculations about this phenomenon:

Firstly, the atavism suggests that brown body hair is a primitive trait. This was proposed by Professor Pan Wenshi, a renowned panda expert who discovered the first brown giant panda.

Secondly, the theory of homozygous recessive genes suggests that brown body hair is the result of homozygous recessive genes. Assuming that the color of body hair is controlled by a pair of genes, the gene that controls brown body hair is recessive. Only when both parents carry this gene can their offspring exhibit homozygous recessive genes, resulting in the growth of brown body hair. The panda expert Liang Qihui, who first proposed this statement, also admitted, "This is just a hypothesis with some scientific basis."

Panda Qizai at the Giant Panda Research Center [Photo by Wang Lei]

Thirdly, genetic mutation theory suggests that brown body hair is caused by genetic mutations, but the probability of affecting body hair due to genetic mutations in nature is very low.

Fourthly, environmental impact theory suggests that the appearance of brown giant pandas may be due to the abnormal content of trace elements that affect the synthesis of hair pigments in the soil and water sources of the Qinling Mountains region, thus affecting the synthesis of melanin in its hair.

According to relevant experts, currently, little research has been done on brown pandas, and research data is very limited. It is also difficult to find patterns from several discovered cases. Therefore, further discovery and research are needed to uncover the mystery of brown giant pandas.