No, the giant pandas did not get their unique patches to look cute to human eyes. New research suggests that the black and white markings help them hide in snowy habitats and also to communicate.
Giant panda's distinct black-and-white markings have two functions — camouflage and communication, said the study published in the journal Behavioral Ecology.
"Understanding why the giant panda has such striking colouration 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," said lead author Tim Caro, Professor at University of California, Davis in the US.
"The breakthrough in the study was treating each part of the body as an independent area," Caro said.
This enabled the team to compare different regions of fur across the giant panda's body to the dark and light colouring of 195 other carnivore species and 39 bear subspecies, to which it is related.
Then they tried to match the darkness of these regions to various ecological and behavioural variables to determine their function.
Through these comparisons, the study found that most of the pandas — its face, neck, belly, rump — is white to help it hide in snowy habitats.
The arms and legs are black, helping it to hide in shade.
The scientists suggest that this dual colouration stems from its poor diet of bamboo and inability to digest a broader variety of plants.
This means it can never store enough fat to go dormant during the winter, as do some bears. So it has to be active year-round, travelling across long distances and habitat types that range from snowy mountains to tropical forests.
The markings on its head, however, are not used to hide from predators, but rather to communicate.
Dark ears may help convey a sense of ferocity, a warning to predators. Their dark eye patches may help them recognise each other or signal aggression toward panda competitors, the study said.