Scientists have made a big discovery on Zebra stripes

To most modern theorists, the stripes of a zebra are considered to be an evolutionary adaptation, a camouflage technique — however, new research indicates that zebra stripes might have nothing to do at all with camouflage.

According to the Christian Science Monitor, zebra stripes were originally thought to have evolved as a result of a need for camouflage. They were though to have been used for “confusing predators, protecting against disease-carrying insects, controlling body temperature and social cohesion,” according to the study, which was published in the journal PLOS ONE.

Now, however, these theories are being refuted.

“The results from this new study provide no support at all for the idea that the zebra’s stripes provide some type of anti-predator camouflaging effect,” said co-author Tim Caro, UC Davis wildlife biology professor.

The new research theorizes that the stripes cannot have evolved to blend zebra into the background because at the distance where a predator might see a zebra’s stripes, they would have likely smelled them or seen them.

The hypothesis was tested by analyzing digital images that were taken in the field in Tanzania. These images were then passed through spatial and color filters in an attempt to simulate how a predator might see them.

“The longstanding hypothesis for zebra striping is crypsis, or camouflaging, but until now the question has always been framed through human eyes,” said lead author Amanda Melin, assistant professor of biological anthropology at the University of Calgary, Canada.

“The research suggests that the actual purpose of the stripes might be to deter flies. Tying into this idea is the theory that the zebra stripes are used as way to “dazzle and confuse attacking predators in part by creating optical illusions.”