ArticleScientific reports2021
A new argument against cooling by convective air eddies formed above sunlit zebra stripes.
Article in Scientific reports, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 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.
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Who cites it
2 citing papers in PubMed.
- Zebra stripes: the questions raised by the answers.Biological reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society · 2025Review
- Sunlit zebra stripes may confuse the thermal perception of blood vessels causing the visual unattractiveness of zebras to horseflies.Scientific reports · 2022Article
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Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
There is a long-lasting debate about the possible functions of zebra stripes. According to one hypothesis, periodical convective air eddies form over sunlit zebra stripes which cool the body. However, the formation of such eddies has not been experimentally studied. Using schlieren imaging in the laboratory, we found: downwelling air streams do not form above the white stripes of light-heated smooth or hairy striped surfaces. The influence of stripes on the air stream formation (facilitating upwelling streams and hindering horizontal stream drift) is negligible higher than 1-2 cm above the surface. In calm weather, upwelling air streams might form above sunlit zebra stripes, however they are blown off by the weakest wind, or even by the slowest movement of the zebra. These results forcefully contradict the thermoregulation hypothesis involving air eddies.
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