Yes, many animals use camouflage as a means of protection, including chameleons, deer, and rabbits. There are also animals that change their color to blend in with their surroundings, such as the octopus. Zebras' striking black and white stripes have long puzzled scientists who have debated their purpose. Recent studies have revealed that they
Zebra stripes are unique to each individual, and researchers in the wilderness have used zebras’ individual stripe patterns for identification. It might seem like a zebra is a zebra, but there are three different species: plains, mountain, and Grevy’s zebras.
There are a number of adaptive hypotheses for the existence of striping in zebras [ 13 ], including predation evasion [ 14, 15 ], thermoregulation [ 14 ], social cohesion [ 16] and avoidance of biting flies [ 17 ]. In this paper we put the predation, thermoregulation and biting fly hypotheses to a spatially explicit empirical test by modelling
Zebras are members of the horse family. They have excellent hearing and eyesight and can run at speeds of up to 35 miles per hour. Usually the lead male of the herd, called a stallion, stays at the back of the group to defend against predators, if necessary. When zebras are grouped together, the stripes make it had for a lion or leopard to pick
While zebras can see stripes over further distances than their predators can, scientists noted other species, closely related to the zebra, are highly social and able to recognise each other
They found that in well-lit conditions, humans can spot zebra stripes at distances 2.6 times greater than zebras, 4.5 times greater than lions and 7.5 times longer than hyenas.
Another theory claims that stripes have a thermoregulatory function, while the third theory claims these stripes help zebras hide from their predators. Zebras don’t actually have both white and black stripes, their fur is black and covered with white stripes. The zebras’ bellies are typically white.
But while the black stripes were consistently hotter than the white stripes on both the real and artificial zebra hides, reliably mimicking the contrast observed on the hides of living zebras, the
1. Their stripes are unique. Zebras are iconic for their stripes, which are actually unique to each individual, like a human’s fingerprint. Scientists have even developed a way to read their stripes like bar codes to be able to identify specific zebras in a heard. 1. 2. Zebra’s stripes are further apart the further south in Africa
jNdy.
how do stripes help zebras