Why Do Zebras Have Stripes? Scientists Camouflaged Horses to Find Out
Why Do Zebras(ˈzēbrə) Have Stripes(strīp)? Scientists Camouflaged(-ˌfläj,ˈkaməˌfläZH) Horses(hôrs) to Find Out
If you spend time around horses or flies, you might want to invest in some zebra print.
By JoAnna Klein
What’s black, white((h)wīt) and striped all over — except for its head?
Horses wearing zebra coats(kōt) on a farm in Britain(ˈbritn).
The animals(ˈanəməl) weren’t attending a masquerade(ˌmaskəˈrād). They were dressed for studies investigating(inˈvestəˌɡāt) a mystery(ˈmist(ə)rē) that has puzzled(ˈpəzəld) scientists for more than a century(ˈsenCH(ə)rē).
With solid(ˈsäləd) coats of brown(broun) or gray(grā), “most mammals(ˈmaməl) are pretty(ˈpridē) boring(ˈbôriNG),” said Tim Caro, who studies animal coloration(ˌkələˈrāSHən) at the University of California(-nēə,ˌkaləˈfôrnyə), Davis(ˈdāvis), and is co-author of a study published on Wednesday(-dē,ˈwenzdā) in PLOS One. “So when you see these bold(bōld) patterns like on a giraffe(jəˈraf) or zebra, as a biologist(bīˈäləjəst) you say, Why?”
At least since the days when Charles(CHärlz) Darwin and Alfred(ˈalfrəd) Russel(ˈrəsəl) Wallace(ˈwôləs) were theorizing(ˈTHi(ə)rˌīz,ˈTHēəˌrīz) about evolution(ˌevəˈlo͞oSHən), scientists have debated(dəˈbāt) the function of this sassy(ˈsasē) animal print. It’s been called camouflage to confuse big predators(ˈpredətər), an identity(ˌīˈden(t)ədē) signal(ˈsignəl) to other zebras and a kind of wearable(ˈwe(ə)rəbəl) air conditioner. Now most scientists agree that the function of a zebra’s stripes is to ward(wôrd) off biting(ˈbītiNG) flies that can carry(ˈkarē) deadly(ˈdedlē) diseases(dəˈzēz).
But what exactly is it about a zebra’s wardrobe(ˈwôrˌdrōb) that flies don’t like?
The answer to that question has been hard to find. Zebras in the wild are not easy to get close to. So Dr. Caro and a colleague(ˈkälˌēg), Martin How, went to Hill Livery(ˈliv(ə)rē), a horse farm moonlighting as an orphanage(ˈôrfənij) and a conservation(ˌkänsərˈvāSHən) hub for captive(ˈkaptiv) zebras near the University of Bristol(ˈbristl) in Britain. With their students, they observed(əbˈzərv) and filmed horse flies trying to bite(bīt) zebras. They also dressed some horses in zebra print to see if it helped them avoid fly bites.
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https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/20/science/zebra-stripes-flies.html