Zebra is an exotic animal. The growth of horses is measured in this way - at the withers: from the neck to the ground.
Types of Zebras and Stripes
Zebras usually live in families. The family includes, as a rule, a stallion, several mares and foals. These families graze, gathering in huge herds of up to thousands of heads, sometimes they graze with antelopes.
There are three types of zebras, and each differs from the other in its striped pattern: the Gravy zebra has narrow dark stripes and a white belly, the mountain zebra has thicker stripes (three bold stripes cross its hind legs).
In the savannah zebra, wide stripes begin on the belly and continue backward, passing to the hind legs. Sometimes there are "shadow stripes" - thinner stripes located between wide stripes.
Quagga Zebra
Previously, there was another, fourth, type of zebra. She was called quagga - in imitation of her neighing. Quaggs in appearance were very different from those species of zebras that have survived to the present. At the quagga, the stripes were only on the head, neck and chest, and the back was even brown. As a result of the barbarian hunt, by the beginning of the 20th century, quagga completely disappeared.
Why zebra strips?
Stripes of zebra help confuse predators, such as a lion, who does not mind eating a zebra. While the beast realizes that in front of him, the zebra flees.The color of some animals disguises them in the area where they live. For example, green insects spend most of their time on the leaves of trees, where they are invisible.
Interesting fact: stripes of zebras confuse predators, giving her the opportunity to escape.
But other animals, such as tree frogs or some snakes, have a color called destructive or disturbing. A zebra is one such animal. Imagine an ordinary black horse. Her distinct silhouette is clearly visible on almost any background. It is easy to see at a great distance the bend of her back and the outline of the body. When looking at such a silhouette there is no doubt that in front of you is a horse. But the zebra is misleading. Black and white stripes break, break the even contours of the animal’s body, hide the zebra’s figure. When the zebra runs, the stripes create an even greater deception. Therefore, the lion does not immediately understand that before him is his lunch.
Where did the zebra stripes come from?
Scientists believe that the zebra came from a horse-like animal devoid of stripes. Zoologists disagree on how the ancestor of the zebra looked, but almost everyone believes that it was dark or even black. So the answer to the old question: “A zebra is white with black stripes or black with white?”, It may sound like this: a zebra is a black animal with white stripes. Here's how the stripes may have appeared: due to random variation, some foals could be born with light stripes on a dark background.
Since the stripes turned out to be a protective color, the striped animals gained an advantage: they survived more often, their offspring (also mostly striped) were more numerous. Here is another example of natural selection. As generations passed, more and more striped animals appeared. Over time, there have been different types of animals, which we call a zebra.
