The researchers collected field data from two live zebras, a stallion and a mare, together with a zebra hide draped over a clothed-horse in Kenya. Of course, there is much more work to be done,” Cobb said. “The solution to the zebra’s heat-balance challenge is cleverer, more complex and beautiful than we’d imagined. There are a few reasons for assuming this rather than the alternative. The duo, who have spent many years in sub-Saharan Africa directing environmental research and development projects, assessed zebras in their natural habitat for the first time to investigate the role of stripes in temperature control. For the OCD readers out there, zebras actually have a black coat with white stripes. These three elements are key to understanding how the zebras’ unique patterning helps them manage their temperature in the heat, according to a UK-based biology technician, Alison Cobb and her zoologist husband, Dr Stephen Cobb. They also found that zebras can erect their black stripes - further aiding heat loss. Most zebras have dark skin beneath their fur but the stripes do not consist of white fur with gaps in between. The research, published in the Journal of Natural History, shows that it is the special way zebras sweat to cool down and the small-scale convection currents created between the stripes which aid evaporation. Different zebra species have different social structures. There has been the opposite however in mother nature. Also if you look at photos of them, you can see that the black 'stripes' end towards the belly and inside of their legs leaving the rest striped fur as white. LONDON: In a first, scientists have found that zebras can manipulate their black stripes to control their body temperature. They are generally thought of as white with black stripes, but they are in fact black with white stripes Zebras have black skin under their hair, too. They have dark skin under their fur which will produce black fur.
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