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London, Jul 8 (PTI) The characteristic black-and-white striped fur of zebras does not help animals stay cool under the hot sun, according to a study that refutes a belief that dates back to Darwin.
The black stripes become warmer than the white areas, and the theory says that it creates small vortices when the warmer air above the dark fur meets the white areas. cooler air above the white fur. According to the theory, these vortices act as a fan to cool the body.
To test this theory, researchers at the University of Lund in Sweden filled water with large metal barrels and covered them with imitations of skin of different colors: black and white stripes. black, white, brown and gray
They then placed the barrels in the sun and later measured the temperature in each barrel.
Black was the hottest and the coolest white. The striped and gray barrels were similar, and in these the temperature did not fall.
"The stripes did not lower the temperature.It turns out that the stripes do not really cool the zebras," says Susanne Akesson, of Lund University.
Eight years ago , she and her Hungarian and Spanish colleagues presented another theory: horseflies and other insects that bite the blood.
Aphids are attracted to polarized light, a kind of light that appears when the sun's rays reflect off the light. a dark surface
If the rays are reflected on a white surface, Akesson, the Hungarian physicist Gabor Horvath and their colleges were awarded the Nobel Ig Prize for their research on polarized light, horseflies and why these hematophagous insects disturb many the dark horses.
This is published unedited from the PTI stream.
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