Not a disguise at all: a new version of what zebras need strips for

Perhaps no other African animal is of such mass interest as zebras, the stripes on the skin of which haunt scientists from around the world. There are already many versions of their purpose, but none of these explanations satisfy the minds of inquisitive researchers.

Earlier assumptions were made that the stripes on the skin serve to mask, determine the species affiliation among other animals, disorientation of enemies, as well as to save from annoying insects that are lost in front of a cunning striped pattern. There was also a version that the stripes of black and white are used for thermoregulation. And now, British scientists from the University of Oxford, Alison and Stefan Cobb have conducted additional research and provided convincing evidence in favor of their version.

Two remarkable zebras that live in Africa, their natural habitat, acted as assistants to scientists. The choice was made in favor of real African zebras, since biologists believed that animals living in zoos in a different climate could not give an exact answer to their question. In Africa, under the scorching rays of the sun, in the savannah, scientists and carried out their measurements.

The fact that black and white stripes are heated differently has been known before. But now scientists have studied this process in more detail, and it turned out that the temperature difference between the bands reaches 15 degrees. This creates a kind of microclimate above the surface of the body, and the striped skin contributes to the formation of convective air flows that act as coolers. But the most striking thing is that this effect is observed only on real living zebras, and striped objects or horses in black and white striped blankets do not form such cooling flows. This circumstance led scientists to study the process more deeply.

After additional observations, it turned out that the black stripes have a longer and raised coat, which helps to keep an additional volume of air acting as a heat-insulating pillow. This circumstance also prevents overheating and contributes to the formation of convective flows, which are not observed over surfaces imitating the skin of zebras.

But do not forget that previously it was proved that such a coloring really disorientates blood-sucking insects. It is possible that the unusual zebra skin performs several useful functions at once, although the optical effect could become an additional pleasant bonus to the main cooling function, for which, in fact, evolution gave the zebras stripes. And how scientists found that stripes help to escape from harmful insects can be found in one of our previous materials.