Scientists from Calgary, California and Japan say zebra stripes not for camouflage
David Blackwell
First posted: Sunday, January 24, 2016 12:23 AM EST | Updated: Sunday, January 24, 2016 01:22 AM EST
Turns out, maybe those stripes won’t save a zebra’s hide.
A team of scientists say their research shows zebra stripes do not make much of a difference to another animal looking for a tasty treat.
Published Friday in the journal PLOS ONE, the study provided the first systematic test of the long-held assumption that a zebra’s stripes help it blend in with its surroundings.
Researchers from the University of Calgary, the University of California and Japan’s Kyushu University passed digital photos taken in the field in Tanzania through filters simulating how zebras appear to their main predators.
They also measured the widths and light contrasts of zebras to estimate the longest distance at which they could be spotted by predators.
“We were able to estimate the distances at which lions and spotted hyenas, as well as zebras, can see zebra stripes under daylight, twilight, or during a moonless night,” said the study’s lead author Amanda Melin, an assistant biological anthropology professor at the U of C.
The researchers found in the open, treeless areas zebras usually hang out in, lions see zebras as easily as they do other potential prey.
And in wooded areas, stripes are hard for predators to make out, indicating they don’t help zebras hide.
Scientists from Calgary, California and Japan say zebra stripes not for camoufla
David Blackwell
First posted: Sunday, January 24, 2016 12:23 AM EST | Updated: Sunday, January 24, 2016 01:22 AM EST
Turns out, maybe those stripes won’t save a zebra’s hide.
A team of scientists say their research shows zebra stripes do not make much of a difference to another animal looking for a tasty treat.
Published Friday in the journal PLOS ONE, the study provided the first systematic test of the long-held assumption that a zebra’s stripes help it blend in with its surroundings.
Researchers from the University of Calgary, the University of California and Japan’s Kyushu University passed digital photos taken in the field in Tanzania through filters simulating how zebras appear to their main predators.
They also measured the widths and light contrasts of zebras to estimate the longest distance at which they could be spotted by predators.
“We were able to estimate the distances at which lions and spotted hyenas, as well as zebras, can see zebra stripes under daylight, twilight, or during a moonless night,” said the study’s lead author Amanda Melin, an assistant biological anthropology professor at the U of C.
The researchers found in the open, treeless areas zebras usually hang out in, lions see zebras as easily as they do other potential prey.
And in wooded areas, stripes are hard for predators to make out, indicating they don’t help zebras hide.
Scientists from Calgary, California and Japan say zebra stripes not for camoufla