ArticleRoyal Society open science2015
How the zebra got its stripes: a problem with too many solutions.
Article in Royal Society open science, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 15 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
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Who cites it
15 citing papers in PubMed.
- Perceiving zebra rump stripes "through the eyes of" their predators: A study with human observers.Perception · 2026Article
- Zebra stripes: the questions raised by the answers.Biological reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society · 2025Review
- Bio-Inspired Strategy for Radiation-Based Thermal Management and Utilization.Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany) · 2025Review
- Sunlit zebra stripes may confuse the thermal perception of blood vessels causing the visual unattractiveness of zebras to horseflies.Scientific reports · 2022Article
- A new argument against cooling by convective air eddies formed above sunlit zebra stripes.Scientific reports · 2021Article
- The evolution of patterning during movement in a large-scale citizen science game.Proceedings. Biological sciences · 2021Article
- The 'Real-World Approach' and Its Problems: A Critique of the Term Ecological Validity.Frontiers in psychology · 2020Article
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- Experimental evidence that stripes do not cool zebras.Scientific reports · 2018Article
- Zebras and Biting Flies: Quantitative Analysis of Reflected Light from Zebra Coats in Their Natural Habitat.PloS one · 2016Article
- Concordance on zebra stripes is not black and white: response to comment by Caro & Stankowich (2015).Royal Society open science · 2015Article
- Concordance on zebra stripes: a comment on Larison et al. (2015).Royal Society open science · 2015Article
- Forging patterns and making waves from biology to geology: a commentary on Turing (1952) 'The chemical basis of morphogenesis'.Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences · 2015Review
- The role of stripe orientation in target capture success.Frontiers in zoology · 2015Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
The adaptive significance of zebra stripes has thus far eluded understanding. Many explanations have been suggested, including social cohesion, thermoregulation, predation evasion and avoidance of biting flies. Identifying the associations between phenotypic and environmental factors is essential for testing these hypotheses and substantiating existing experimental evidence. Plains zebra striping pattern varies regionally, from heavy black and white striping over the entire body in some areas to reduced stripe coverage with thinner and lighter stripes in others. We examined how well 29 environmental variables predict the variation in stripe characteristics of plains zebra across their range in Africa. In contrast to recent findings, we found no evidence that striping may have evolved to escape predators or avoid biting flies. Instead, we found that temperature successfully predicts a substantial amount of the stripe pattern variation observed in plains zebra. As this association between striping and temperature may be indicative of multiple biological processes, we suggest that the selective agents driving zebra striping are probably multifarious and complex.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.