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Author Topic: Zebra Stripes Evolution Theory [Locked]
Eager_Igraine  4 stars
Posts: 1,036
Registered: 2002-11-21 11:55:52
 Date Posted: 1/1/00 12:00am Subject: Zebra Stripes Evolution Theory
http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/16944753


Quote:
posted: Why zebras evolved their characteristic black-and-white stripes has been the subject of decades of debate among scientists.


Now researchers from Hungary and Sweden claim to have solved the mystery. The stripes, they say, came about to keep away blood-sucking flies.



Fun experiments ensued.

 

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Coriolus  3 stars
Title: Outpost Ice Mexican
Posts: 905
Registered: 2002-5-17 06:20:48
 Date Posted: 1/1/00 12:00am Subject: Zebra Stripes Evolution Theory

 

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A thousand sheep are louder than one man. As long as the Survivor-watching sheep outnumber the thinkers, nothing will change. - BD
Eager_Igraine  4 stars
Posts: 1,036
Registered: 2002-11-21 11:55:52
 Date Posted: 1/1/00 12:00am Subject: Zebra Stripes Evolution Theory
eek!

 

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I radiate more heat than light.
I know what you're trying to do but you're just sailing another failboat over the falls. - imaloon1
sweeny_comodore  4 stars
Posts: 1,216
Registered: 2007-8-23 18:47:04
 Date Posted: 1/1/00 12:00am Subject: Zebra Stripes Evolution Theory
its camoflage

early zebras who didnt have this pattern got eaten and thus the genetic code for the non typical zebra stripes was lost

 

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Corky_Aloof  2 stars
Posts: 445
Registered: 2004-6-2 07:33:41
 Date Posted: 1/1/00 12:00am Subject: Zebra Stripes Evolution Theory
sweeny_comodore posted:
its camoflage



Correct. When a lion sees a pack of zebras running, the stripes make it hard for a lion to lock onto a single body. The entire pack looks like a big moving blur.

A fantastic and clever design clearly devised through evolutionary chance by our Otavia antiqua ancestor.

 

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Koneg  3 stars
Title: Evil Genius
Posts: 894
Registered: 2001-12-4 15:31:28
 Date Posted: 1/1/00 12:00am Subject: Zebra Stripes Evolution Theory
sweeny_comodore posted:
early zebras who didnt have this pattern got eaten

Almost.


Anything that makes an individual overly distinctive within the herd will get it eaten. This is why the sick and injured get picked off by predators - because they look and act slightly different than the rest of the herd and draw attention to themselves by doing so.


Predators aren't able to tell what animals are sick or injured and there-for easy targets... but any animal that distinguishes itself from the rest of the herd in any way will draw their attention.


There was a very famous experiment by Hans Kruuk that proved this. Any amount of distinctiveness to a herd animal doomed it. He would paint a spot on the side of a single herd animal.


That animal would be attacked by predators the very next time those predators attacked that herd. It was like a huge "Eat Me!" sign. This was 100% effective no matter how many times they repeated the experiment. ANY animal they marked, was singled out for attack.


So it isn't about the pattern they have - it's about being in any way different than the rest of the herd.

 

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__Bonk__  5 stars
Posts: 5,122
Registered: 2009-7-25 03:04:52
 Date Posted: 1/1/00 12:00am Subject: Zebra Stripes Evolution Theory
Corky_Aloof posted:
sweeny_comodore posted:
its camoflage



Correct. When a lion sees a pack of zebras running, the stripes make it hard for a lion to lock onto a single body. The entire pack looks like a big moving blur.

A fantastic and clever design clearly devised through evolutionary chance by our Otavia antiqua ancestor.

 

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A change in feeling is a change in destiny.
Koneg  3 stars
Title: Evil Genius
Posts: 894
Registered: 2001-12-4 15:31:28
 Date Posted: 1/1/00 12:00am Subject: Zebra Stripes Evolution Theory
Corky_Aloof posted:
Correct. When a lion sees a pack of zebras running, the stripes make it hard for a lion to lock onto a single body. The entire pack looks like a big moving blur.

In addition to the above, most African predators hunt at night. The black and white stripes break up the silhouette of the animal making it more difficult to spot at night, especially if it's motionless.

 

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"Any sufficiently advanced idiocy is
indistinguishable from trolling." -- Arthur C Clarke
illmyrin  3 stars
Posts: 705
Registered: 2001-12-25 11:52:26
 Date Posted: 1/1/00 12:00am Subject: Zebra Stripes Evolution Theory
Koneg is SO good at Zebra threads and firearms threads. Why does he fail so bad at everything else?

 

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Corky_Aloof  2 stars
Posts: 445
Registered: 2004-6-2 07:33:41
 Date Posted: 1/1/00 12:00am Subject: Zebra Stripes Evolution Theory
Failed design?

 

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