An interesting story published this week in Phys.Org discusses the pattern of zebra stripes and attempts to determine how their patterns form. Researchers from the University of California published a report this week in Royal Society Open Science which shows a statistical relationship between the pattern of black and white stripes on zebras in different regions to local temperatures. In the past people have suggested that the stripes are there to ward off flies or confuse lions by making them blend into grassy areas. In studying 16 different groups of zebras and looking for correlations to 29 different environmental factors, the only one they could find was between heat and stripes. Higher temperatures are related to more or darker stripes, while cooler temperatures correspond to fewer or paler stripes. Further research must be done to determine the physical mechanisms which might be controlling the pattern development. Here is the link to the story: https://phys.org/news/2015-01-idea-zebra-stripes.html
