Researchers from Hungary and Sweden reported the effectiveness of stripes (like a zebra has) preventing the bites of horseflies as one of the evolutionary factors in producing the characteristic pattern of zebra stripes in the Journal of Experimental Biology on February 9, 2012.
Gábor Horváth, Susanne Åkesson and colleagues from Hungary and Sweden examined the type of light that attracts horseflies (tabanids) and discovered that darker colored horses were more prone to insect predation than white horses.
An examination of the effect a zebra’s striped coat has on light led the scientists to discover that the width, density and angle of the stripes and the direction of polarization of the light that they reflected all made zebras less susceptible to horsefly predation.
The researchers contend that zebras developed their stripes over time as an evolutionary adaptation to prevent predation and disease. In common parlance, those who had no stripes died out.
The research was reviewed at the Eureka Alert web site on January 9, 2012.
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