Eager_Igraine
Posts:
20,126
Registered:
Nov 21, '02
Extended Info (if available)
Real Post Cnt: 19,548
User ID: 740,268
|
Subject:
Zebra Stripes Evolution Theory
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/16944753
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.
-----signature-----
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
|
|
Link to this post
|
Coriolus
Title: Outpost Ice Mexican
Posts:
22,046
Registered:
May 17, '02
Extended Info (if available)
Real Post Cnt: 21,595
User ID: 679,996
|
Subject:
Zebra Stripes Evolution Theory
|
-----signature-----
A thousand sheep are louder than one man. As long as the Survivor-watching sheep outnumber the thinkers, nothing will change. - BD
|
|
Link to this post
|
Eager_Igraine
Posts:
20,126
Registered:
Nov 21, '02
Extended Info (if available)
Real Post Cnt: 19,548
User ID: 740,268
|
Subject:
Zebra Stripes Evolution Theory
|
|
eek!
-----signature-----
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
|
|
Link to this post
|
sweeny_comodore
Posts:
9,066
Registered:
Aug 23, '07
Extended Info (if available)
Real Post Cnt: 8,113
User ID: 1,248,480
|
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
-----signature-----
Jesus? No, but there is indeed a god shaped hole in the heart of man, why is yours so empty? -- snarf igraine the original monotheism: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phallus
|
|
Link to this post
|
Corky_Aloof
Posts:
10,689
Registered:
Jun 2, '04
Extended Info (if available)
Real Post Cnt: 8,854
User ID: 929,737
|
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.
-----signature-----
 > 
|
|
Link to this post
|
Koneg
Title: Evil Genius
Posts:
31,388
Registered:
Dec 4, '01
Extended Info (if available)
Real Post Cnt: 28,579
User ID: 530,943
|
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.
-----signature-----
* First rule of a gun fight: Have a gun.
|
"Any sufficiently advanced idiocy is
indistinguishable from trolling." -- Arthur C Clarke
|
|
Link to this post
|
__Bonk__
Posts:
53,947
Registered:
Jul 25, '09
Extended Info (if available)
Real Post Cnt: 53,339
User ID: 1,364,654
|
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.
-----signature-----
I keep my eyes fixed on the sun!
A change in feeling is a change in destiny.
|
|
Link to this post
|
Koneg
Title: Evil Genius
Posts:
31,388
Registered:
Dec 4, '01
Extended Info (if available)
Real Post Cnt: 28,579
User ID: 530,943
|
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. 
-----signature-----
* First rule of a gun fight: Have a gun.
|
"Any sufficiently advanced idiocy is
indistinguishable from trolling." -- Arthur C Clarke
|
|
Link to this post
|
illmyrin
Posts:
16,612
Registered:
Dec 25, '01
Extended Info (if available)
Real Post Cnt: 10,815
User ID: 574,488
|
Subject:
Zebra Stripes Evolution Theory
|
|
Koneg is SO good at Zebra threads and firearms threads. Why does he fail so bad at everything else?
-----signature-----
Hold up your opinions and I'll tell you which one is my favorit.
|
|
Link to this post
|
Corky_Aloof
Posts:
10,689
Registered:
Jun 2, '04
Extended Info (if available)
Real Post Cnt: 8,854
User ID: 929,737
|
Subject:
Zebra Stripes Evolution Theory
|
|
Failed design?
-----signature-----
>
|
|
Link to this post
|
vn_nnanji
Title: Outpost Music Expert
Posts:
71,647
Registered:
Jun 30, '01
Extended Info (if available)
Real Post Cnt: 62,027
User ID: 212,537
|
Subject:
Zebra Stripes Evolution Theory
|
|
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BB7YhbM4K80
-----signature-----
|
|
Link to this post
|
