A new study suggests that zebras' stripes help to keep them cool in the extreme temperatures of their environment.
Researchers observed that zebras living in warmer regions have more defined stripes than those found in cooler regions.
Scientists Alfred Russel and Charles Darwin proposed five explanations as to why zebras have stripes: camouflage, a mechanism to regulate body temperature, initiate social functions, a weapon to visually confuse predators and a way of avoiding attacks from parasites, such as biting flies.
An earlier study expanded on the idea that stripes were used as a defense mechanism against blood-sucking flies.
Now, a new study conducted by researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles, focused mainly on the notion that stripes are meant to regulate zebras' body temperatures.
The team looked at the stripe patterns of 16 zebra populations in Africa. They also gathered data to measure environmental temperature and developed a computer model to project stripe pattern changes along with temperature changes, according to LiveScience.
The analysis showed that as the temperature warmed up, the stripes became more defined. They also measured the body temperature of some zebras in the area and found that their skin temperatures are lower by 3 degrees Celsius compared to other animals that didn't have stripes.
"We were able to show that we could predict it with significant accuracy," Brenda Larison, study leader and a biologist at the University of California, Los Angeles, told the National Geographic.
The researchers admitted that further study is needed because they are aware that the stripes are likely to have different functions. They plan to continue their study by monitoring wild zebras with temperature sensors.
The study was published in the Jan. 13 issue of the Royal Society Open Science.
