Jan 19 2015 : The Times of India (Delhi)
Why do zebras have stripes? To keep them cool
New York
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Zebras’ thick, black stripes may have evolved to help them stay cool in the midday African heat, a new study has found.Researchers have long struggled to explain the purpose of the zebra’s unique black-and-white coat. It has been suggested that the stripes may help zebras camouflage themselves and escape from lions and other predators; avoid nasty bites from disease-carrying flies; or control body heat by generating small-scale breezes over the zebra's body when light and dark stripes heat up at different rates.
Researchers at University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) examined how 29 different environmental variables influence stripe styles of plains zebras at 16 different sites from south to central Africa. The scientists found that the definition of stripes along a zebra’s back most closely correlated with temperature and precipitation in a zebra’s environment, and did not correlate with the prevalence of li ons or tsetse flies in the region.
These findings suggest that torso stripes may do more to help zebras regulate their body temperature than to avoid predators and tsetse flies, ‘Live Science’ reported.
Other animals also need to regulate body temperature, or thermoregulate, said co-author Ren Larison, a researcher at UCLA, but zebras may especially benefit from an extra cooling system as they digest food less efficiently than other grazers in Africa.
Researchers at University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) examined how 29 different environmental variables influence stripe styles of plains zebras at 16 different sites from south to central Africa. The scientists found that the definition of stripes along a zebra’s back most closely correlated with temperature and precipitation in a zebra’s environment, and did not correlate with the prevalence of li ons or tsetse flies in the region.
These findings suggest that torso stripes may do more to help zebras regulate their body temperature than to avoid predators and tsetse flies, ‘Live Science’ reported.
Other animals also need to regulate body temperature, or thermoregulate, said co-author Ren Larison, a researcher at UCLA, but zebras may especially benefit from an extra cooling system as they digest food less efficiently than other grazers in Africa.
