7/14/2023 0 Comments Zebra with no stripes![]() A 2015 study at UCLA posited that the stark black-and-white stripes set up convention waves on the animals’ coats, making them cooler in the African sun. Wikipedia explains that a new zebra mother imprints her own striping pattern, scent and vocalization on her foal so the youngster will recognize and follow her. Two zebras in the wild (photo from Wikimedia Commons) However, the same 2016 study found that zebras don’t see their own stripes as well as we do.ĭo zebras use the stripes for identity? Not exclusively. We humans can visually identify individual zebras by their patterns (see below). Photos of three zebra species and African wild ass from PLOS ONE: Zebra stripes through the Eyes of Their Predators, Zebras and HumansĪre zebra stripes for identifying each other?Įach zebra has stripes as unique as our fingerprints. In fact, to distant lions and hyenas, zebras look as plain as a wild ass. ![]() UC Davis: Zebra Stripes Not for Camouflage And on moonless nights, the stripes are particularly difficult for all species to distinguish beyond 9 meters (about 29 feet.) This suggests that the stripes don’t provide camouflage. The study found that beyond 50 meters (about 164 feet) in daylight or 30 meters (about 98 feet) at twilight, when most predators hunt, stripes can be seen by humans but are hard for zebra predators to distinguish. ![]() Predators of zebras: spotted hyena and lion (photos from Wikimedia Commons) A 2016 study by Univ of Calgary and UC Davis examined the visual acuity of the zebras’ top predators, including lions and hyenas, and compared it to what zebras and humans can see. Why do zebras have stripes? There are many theories.Īre zebra stripes for camouflage from predators? While thinking of the wild zebras of Maryland, I wondered … Zebra stripes (photo from Wikimedia Commons) ![]()
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