
The function of zebra stripes - ern
http://www.nature.com/ncomms/2014/140401/ncomms4535/full/ncomms4535.html
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nemesisj
I just returned from South Africa, where the rangers were emphatic that the
stripes are for camouflage. Not in the way we initially think when we hear
camouflage either (to make them invisible), but to make it difficult for a
predator to see how many zebras are in a group, and which way they're
standing. Zebras can kick very hard, apparently, hard enough to easily kill a
man, and if you don't know how many there are and which way they're facing, it
makes sneaking up on a group risky.

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appleflaxen
That's what I was taught in high school, too. Basically just dazzle camoflage

([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dazzle_camouflage](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dazzle_camouflage))

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001sky
Open still is the question of why zebras have such short hair...Apparently
this whole hypothesis is predicated on the fact biting flies are a problem
unique to Zebras because their hair is shorter than the biting implements of
the flies.

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jdmitch
I always thought the explanation I heard as a kid ("The stripes help them
blend in to the tall grass of the savannah") was a bit lacking - this makes
much more sense!

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unwind
Agreed. I did have to read it three times in order to feel sure that I
understood what they were trying to say; I found the abstract rather opaque.

So basically "it deters flies", right? I wonder _why_ then, why would flies
avoid striped skin?

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bazzargh
No idea, but would idly speculate it could be related to the effect seen in
bees, where stripes could be used to fool them into thinking the ground was
closer or further away:
[http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22915710](http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22915710)

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soneca
I thought was something like a "Dazzle camouflage"
-[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dazzle_camouflage](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dazzle_camouflage)

The principle it that would be harder to a lion know where they are heading
when running. Actually the zebra is supposed to have inspired the development
of this technique.

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codva
The explanation I heard as a kid was that the stripes confused predators. When
they stand in a group the stripes allegedly make it hard for predators to
attack from the rear.

