Scientists solve the riddle of zebras' stripes
UC Davis scientists have finally learned why zebras have black and white stripes. A research team was led by Davis from the University of California. Their study was published on April 1 in the online journal Nature Communications.
 |
| Scientists have learned why zebras have stripes. .These zebras are in Katavi National Park, Tanzania. |
The scientists found that biting flies, including horseflies and tsetse flies, are the evolutionary driver for zebra's stripes. These flies can bite, which cause harm or pass fatal disease to similar land animals. Flies prefer solid colors and avoid black&white striped bodies. Davis' team mapped a geographic distributions of different zebras, horses and asses to study the thickness, locations and the intensity of their body stripes. Then, they compared the results with multiple variables like temperature, predators, and the geographic distribution of the biting flies. After that, they examined where the striped animals and the variables overlapped. They concluded that there was more stripes where there are more biting flies. Striping is highly associated with the abundance of biting flies. Zebra also has shorter hair: shorter than the mouth part of the annoying flies. We may use this information to help conserve Zebra population.
Nature of Science:
Science is based on evidence: Dave and his team has published the results to support their conclusion.
Science is tentative: There were many other proposed ideas from the past century. Today, we have more knowledge of the natural world than the last decade. Ideas are tentative and are subject to change.
Role of credibility: We need evidence to trust the ideas proposed. We should be able to repeat the study and get the same results.
Role of motivation and curiosity: By using the new findings, we should try help conserve the wildlife.
For more information, visit http://www.biologynews.net/archives/2014/04/01/scientists_solve_the_riddle_of_zebras_stripes.html
Science is based on evidence: Dave and his team has published the results to support their conclusion.
Science is tentative: There were many other proposed ideas from the past century. Today, we have more knowledge of the natural world than the last decade. Ideas are tentative and are subject to change.
Role of credibility: We need evidence to trust the ideas proposed. We should be able to repeat the study and get the same results.
Role of motivation and curiosity: By using the new findings, we should try help conserve the wildlife.
For more information, visit http://www.biologynews.net/archives/2014/04/01/scientists_solve_the_riddle_of_zebras_stripes.html
Wow! Cool article! Who would have thought that the reason zebras are stripped is to deter flies from biting them. Scientists dating all the way back to Darwin have purposed numerous ideas as to why zebras are stripped. Some of the reasons Darwin and other scientists had purposed were the stripped helped them identify each other, camouflage, or even help with heat management. It is good to finally know the reason why Zebras are stripped!
ReplyDeleteZebras are cool animals and this is a good article explaining how they got there stripes. I wanted to know if there was a scientific answer to the question are zebras black with white stripes or white with black stripes. I found that they are black with white stripes. http://www.globalanimal.org/2011/05/16/striped-yes-but-are-they-really-black-and-white/
ReplyDeleteThis is an interesting mutation to come about so conveniently for the zebra. I wonder how this would have happened. There must be some trait within the zebra to cause it to have the stripes, which Robert pointed out are white. If zebras get their stripes from a genetic mutation, did the gene for non-striped bodies die off, and does this mean it is sex-linked? These are my questions.
ReplyDeleteThis was a very interesting topic. I read in a different article that the stripes on a zebra do deter flies, but it is because the stripes bounce various lights back at the sensitive eyes of biting flies. This causes the flies to be repelled from the zebras.
ReplyDeleteArticle: http://news.sciencemag.org/2012/02/mystery-zebras-stripes-finally-solved