While Alison agrees with CaroвЂ™s findings, she thinks biting flies вЂњseems too unimportant an effectвЂќ to have driven the evolution of zebra stripes. They believe that zebra stripes aid primarily in thermoregulation. However, other zebra researchers, like retired animal lab technician Alison Cobb and zoologist Stephen Cobb of Oxford in the UK, arenвЂ™t convinced by the parasite-deterring explanation. And in Princeton University, evolutionary biologist Daniel Rubenstein and his collaborators are tackling the question using вЂњfly vision in virtual realityвЂќ. вЂњIt looks as if they cannot recognise that black and white surface as a good landing spot,вЂќ says Caro.Д¬aro says his team is working with вЂњlots of unpublished dataвЂќ from videos of flies approaching different patterns to learn how the stripes mess up a flyвЂ™s landing. The flies would try to land on the stripes, but then fail to decelerate as they normally would approaching a non-striped surface, and bounce off. The horseflies hovered around zebras and horses in similar amounts, but far fewer flies landed on zebras вЂ“ or horses with striped coats. They observed horseflies around zebras and horses some horses had black, white or striped coats placed on them. The research at Hill Livery earlier this year, shed new light for CaroвЂ™s team. вЂњWe also found absolutely no support for the other hypotheses.вЂќ вЂњ really showed something really remarkable to us,вЂќ says Caro. While scientists still debate the exact origins and functions of zebra stripes, their recent efforts have focused more closely on three possibilities protection from biting flies, thermoregulation and protection from predators. These striping differences, coupled with the challenges that zebras face in their environment, have guided our understanding of how the stripes might work. Striping patterns and intensity vary across species as well as location. The three living species of zebras that roam eastern and southern Africa with their coat of dark hair broken by stripes of white, unpigmented hair, are the only striped equids. Zebras, together with horses and asses, are members of the Equus genus. But, for a long time new theories were introduced without rigorous tests. Scientists have put forward at least 18 reasons why, from camouflage or warning colours, to more creative explanations like unique markers that help to identify individuals like a human fingerprint. How and why zebras evolved to sport black and white stripes are questions that have tested scientists for over a century. вЂњPeople have been talking about zebra stripes for over a hundred years, but it's just a matter of really doing experiments and thinking clearly about the issue to understand it better,вЂќ he says. For Tim Caro, an ecologist from the University of St Andrews who has been studying zebra stripes for almost two decades, the livery yardвЂ™s relatively tame zebras provided a rare opportunity to stand within metres of them and observe them.

Dark zebra uhe review