The combination of black and white zebra, without a shadow of a doubt, enchants humans. We make clothes, bags and shoes trying to copy the wonderful beauty of this animal of the savannas. But do these stripes have any function for the zebra? Or is it just a color pattern with no meaning? After all, why are zebras striped?
These questions are not just asked by you, the reader. Researchers have been trying to put an end to this question for many, many years. Several works were done and several hypotheses were created. One of the most accepted is that the stripes would be a kind of camouflage. The predator, when observing a large number of zebras, would be confused, not knowing where the animal begins or ends, not being able to differentiate an individual.
Look at the figure below: the stripe pattern really confuses us, doesn't it?
For a long time it was believed that stripes served as a form of camouflage
In addition to this hypothesis, several others were created. Some suggested that the stripes helped control the zebras' body heat, and others said it was a form of social interaction. The latter was based on the fact that each zebra has a unique stripe pattern, just as each of us has different fingerprints. That way, it would be a way for them to recognize themselves.
In April 2014 it was published in a scientific journal (Nature Communications) a work that can put an end to this doubt. According to the authors, the function of the zebra stripe is to act as a repellent. That's right! The stripes ward off mosquitoes that could suck blood from these animals and even transmit disease.
To reach this conclusion, the researchers looked at some species of horses, such as zebras and horses. They analyzed the presence or absence of stripes, their size and the presence of insects that sucked the blood of these animals in the places where each one lived. The result was surprising: they found that, in places where there are many flies, there are more striped animals. apparently the insects have a great aversion to stripes, and animals that have this color pattern have an advantage over those that do not, since they suffer less bites.
We still have a lot more to find out about zebra stripes and why insects don't like these patterns. Therefore, much research still needs to be done before we can put a definitive end to this and other mysteries.
By Ma. Vanessa dos Santos
