Stripes, stripes, stripes and... more

2001/02/15 Elhuyar Zientzia

• Zoologia

We have always been struck by the appearance of zebras and the abundance of stripes. And as we have been struck, we have also tried to find an explanation.

The truth is that these animals are very visible and visible from afar. So why have such spectacular colors? It seems that having so many stripes breaks the appearance or shape of the same animal, the silhouette, and predators find it more difficult to distinguish where each zebra begins and ends, or where each part of the zebra body begins and ends. The profile of the animal is more difficult to define, so it is more difficult to hunt. Others consider that the lines facilitate the mixture with the grass of the area. Keep in mind that many predators see in black and white that the stripes of the zebra and the grass around them will look like similar colors.

At the moment it cannot be known whether one theory or another is the most appropriate, or whether both are appropriate.