Despite being perhaps the most recognizable animal on the major planet , biologists have been baffle for C over how the zebra contract its stripes . But scientists have worked out an answer , and it ’s nothing to do with camouflaging themselves in farsighted grass .
Adam Egri from Eötvös University in Budapest , Hungary , believe that zebras develop stripe to protect themselves from blood - draw insects , describe New Scientist . In fact , there was a theory proposed in the 1930s that advise that tsetse fly sheet were least pull to strip animate being , but Ergi decided to test it out on horseflies — a tangible problem for zebras on the plain , as they transmit several nasty equine diseases .
At a fly - infested farm in Budapest , Ergi ’s team paint tray with different black and white pattern , then sate the trays with salad oil to snare horseflies that landed on them . The effect ? tray that were painted to resemble the stripes of the zebra attracted the fewest flies . The findingsare reported in the Journal of Experimental Biology .
But how does it work , exactly ? accord to Ergi , horseflies are draw to horizontally polarized light : they detect water through horizontal polarization . Zebra stripes , however , disrupt polarize light , making the animals look untempting to the insect . [ Journal of Experimental BiologyviaNew Scientist ; Image : wwarby ]
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