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The Plains Zebra
The
zebra actually has a ground colour of white with black stripes. Their patterns are all unique but not only do they differ from zebra to
zebra, the left side of their body is also different to the right side. This is particularly important during the imprinting stage when
mother and new foal are 'memorising' each other's pattern. It is not clear if only a part of, or the complete pattern is memorised, however,
there are indications that the zebras focus on the pattern from between the eyes, down to the nose and perhaps including the shoulders. The
mother keeps the foal away from the herd during this imprinting phase.
here are theories that the stripes are necessary for camouflage and defence, the most popular one being that predators without colour vision find zebras visually difficult to isolate when they are bunched in groups. It is also believed that the stripes make it easier for zebras to see one another in poor light and hazy conditions. An interesting phenomenon has become apparent and that is, the black stripes get hotter than the white stripes due to a greater concentration of capillaries below the black stripes and this aids in dissipating heat and results in a cooling effect. Unfortunately, for some reason, flies are attracted to stripes and zebras swish their tails more actively than bovids, to chase these pests away.
As
seen in the photo, they like to stand head to tail so that the swishing tail keeps the flies away from their face and head. The black
circular patches on the inside of the forelegs are colloquially termed "chestnuts", as in horses, and are rough, calloused pieces
of skin (possibly the toe-pad of a vestigial toe) that are designed to accommodate the sharp end of the hoof at rest when the legs are
tucked in. This prevents the hoof cutting into the leg during the few hours that the zebra is lying at rest.
(Taken from "Beat about the Bush" by Trevor Carnaby)
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