Why do Zebra's have stripes??

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I thought it was for Camouflage purposes but everyone says I am wrong because it is a crappy disguise because black and white stripes aren’t very good at blending in with a savannah type environment.

Some people have said that it is because when they are all hanging out together thy look like one massive animal and predators are put off.

― Davel, Monday, 22 September 2003 10:54 (twenty-two years ago)

Your second point is kinda correct, as far as I'm aware, it basically confuses the predators.

Hi hun btw!

― Pinkpanther (Pinkpanther), Monday, 22 September 2003 10:59 (twenty-two years ago)

strictly speaking to say that an animal has a characteristic "for" something is to misunderstand eveolution by natural selection.

Anyway, even if we ignore this point, the question should actually be, "why don't horses have stripes?" seeing as the ancestral equid had them and some of its descendants subsequently lost them.

― MarkH (MarkH), Monday, 22 September 2003 11:01 (twenty-two years ago)

The white is vanilla flvaoure dand the black is choclate. Num num - tasty stripey horses.

(I like Neopolitan horseys best).

― Pete (Pete), Monday, 22 September 2003 11:20 (twenty-two years ago)

Lions and other big cats only see in black and white so its not too bad for hiding in the long grass.

― Ed (dali), Monday, 22 September 2003 11:38 (twenty-two years ago)

Black and white stripes are fantastic at blending in. Look at some pics of zebras in the wild. The stripes confuse the brain too.

― Mark C (Mark C), Monday, 22 September 2003 11:39 (twenty-two years ago)

I once saw a picture of a little man riding a Zebra

― davel, Monday, 22 September 2003 11:40 (twenty-two years ago)

Is that common, do people ride Zebra's? I've never seen it.

― davel, Monday, 22 September 2003 11:41 (twenty-two years ago)

Do they have Zebra racing??

― Davel, Monday, 22 September 2003 11:42 (twenty-two years ago)

http://www.vanlubeck.com/cars/pictures/GLOIRE.JPG

― lawrence kansas (lawrence kansas), Monday, 22 September 2003 11:45 (twenty-two years ago)

YES!!

― mark s (mark s), Monday, 22 September 2003 11:46 (twenty-two years ago)

What is you & your lady's obsession with zebra racing?!

― Pinkpanther (Pinkpanther), Monday, 22 September 2003 11:54 (twenty-two years ago)

So they look fancy, of course.

― jel -- (jel), Monday, 22 September 2003 15:41 (twenty-two years ago)

http://www.cyberpresspublishing.com/zoocontest/zebra.jpg

they make you dizzy when you look at them head-on!

― teeny (teeny), Monday, 22 September 2003 15:55 (twenty-two years ago)

http://www.cdaccess.com/jpg/shared/front/large/zebras.jpg

If I was a lion I would be tempted to take a couple of asprin and lie down for bit when confronted with tons of zebras.

― teeny (teeny), Monday, 22 September 2003 15:58 (twenty-two years ago)

Zebras: the only animal designed by Bridget Riley

― caitlin (caitlin), Monday, 22 September 2003 15:59 (twenty-two years ago)

http://www.alumni.caltech.edu/~kantner/zebras/pictures/ZEBRAS.JPG

aaaaaaaaah!

― teeny (teeny), Monday, 22 September 2003 16:00 (twenty-two years ago)

http://frenchy85.free.fr/zebras.jpg

okay that's enough of that crap.

― teeny (teeny), Monday, 22 September 2003 16:01 (twenty-two years ago)

They're slimming.

― Nemo (JND), Monday, 22 September 2003 17:00 (twenty-two years ago)

herd of zebras = magic-eye picture

Look real close and you might see a sailboat!

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Monday, 22 September 2003 17:06 (twenty-two years ago)

Their natiral habitat is British pedestrian crossings, so the camouflage is excellent.

Obviously the advantage is camouflage when hunted by animals that see in B&W, but the more interesting question to me is how stripes developed in the first place. My unfounded suspicion is that it might be to do with emergent order and patterns in complex systems in some way, something like the area I plan to write a small item or two about if FT's science blog gets going.

― Martin Skidmore (Martin Skidmore), Monday, 22 September 2003 18:10 (twenty-two years ago)

That's my favourite one teeny!

― Pinkpanther (Pinkpanther), Monday, 22 September 2003 18:51 (twenty-two years ago)

it breaks the sillohette so its harder to recognise the shape. Same as those ships.

― isadora (isadora), Monday, 22 September 2003 20:10 (twenty-two years ago)

HI PINKPATHER

― Amazing Randy, Monday, 22 September 2003 20:13 (twenty-two years ago)

I think you will find that the subject of zebra racing has already been covered by your Ask A Drunk neighbours:

Zebra racing

― C J (C J), Monday, 22 September 2003 21:01 (twenty-two years ago)

http://www.bewarethecheese.com/stipesgum.jpg

― anthony kyle monday (akmonday), Monday, 22 September 2003 21:28 (twenty-two years ago)

why do some indie rock chicks wear zebra long socks ?

― DJ Martian (djmartian), Monday, 22 September 2003 22:02 (twenty-two years ago)

I don't know. Why do they?

― straight man (Oops), Monday, 22 September 2003 22:04 (twenty-two years ago)

I've also heard that the stripes help keep the zebras cool (cool as in temperature, not cool as in hipness, though they also add to the coolness of the zebras' style, demeanor, sexiness, etc.). I'm not totally sure how it supposedly works, but I guess the alternation of b&w stripes keeps the their temp down.

― scott, Tuesday, 23 September 2003 01:27 (twenty-two years ago)

http://www.webdesignskolan.com/photoshop/alla_bilder/zebras.jpg

― luna (luna.c), Tuesday, 23 September 2003 03:42 (twenty-two years ago)

Do you non-Americans say ze-bra or zee-bra?

― oops (Oops), Tuesday, 23 September 2003 03:47 (twenty-two years ago)

Awww, dey so kyoot.

I say "zeb-bra". (ie with a short e, rather than "zee bra").

― Trayce (trayce), Tuesday, 23 September 2003 03:48 (twenty-two years ago)

you said "bra"

― Alan (Alan), Tuesday, 23 September 2003 08:11 (twenty-two years ago)

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