What are the secret lines on the body of the zebra? Scientists solve the mystery

Scientists have provided new evidence to answer an old question about why there are lines on the body of the zebra, intended to deceive the insect of the horse fly that feeds on the blood of this species. Animals and transmits deadly diseases.

On Wednesday, the researchers evoked experiments that revealed that horseflies had difficulty landing on the body of a zebra, while easily landing on the body of horses of the same color. In one experiment, the researchers put the hats on the bodies of the horses and noticed that fewer flies stopped their flight, compared to the number of flies that fell on the horses' bodies themselves when scientists applied blankets to them. 39, only one color.

"We have found that horse flies approach corpses of donkeys and wild horses at the same rate but fail to land on wild donkeys or covered horses," said the lynch. Ecological ecologist Tim Caro of the University of California-Davis and head of the research team published in the newspaper PlusOne. With a planned coverage, because it can not slow down properly, it overtakes or literally hits it and bounces. "

The shapes of the lines vary on the bodies of the wild donkeys, and there are not two identical ones.

The researchers recorded images of horse flies trying to attack wild donkeys and domesticated horses in a stable in North Somerset, England. The lines did not dissuade flies from far away, they encircled wild horses and donkeys at the same speeds. But flies fell on donkey corpses at a lower rate than horses at less than a quarter.

Martin Hay, biologist at the University of Bristol and co-author of the study, said that the lineages may have misled the flies, insects being close enough to see them with their eyes. low resolution.

(Reuters)