![]() ![]() This makes the sweat frothy, increasing its surface area and lowering its surface tension so it evaporates and prevents the animal overheating. Recent research reveals that the passage of sweat in horses from the skin to the tips of the hairs is facilitated by a protein called latherin which is also present in zebras. Like all species in the horse family, zebras sweat to keep cool. It is therefore the way the zebra stripes are harnessed as one part of their cooling system, rather than just their contrasting coat colour, that is key to understanding why these animals have their unique patterning. This indicates there is an underlying mechanism to suppress heating in living zebras. Whilst this difference stabilises on living zebras during the middle seven hours of the day, with the black stripes 12-15oC hotter than the white, the stripes on a lifeless zebra hide continue to heat up, by as much as another 16oC. The data revealed a temperature difference between the black and white stripes that increases as the day heats up. The researchers collected field data from two live zebras, a stallion and a mare, together with a zebra hide draped over a clothes-horse as a control, in Kenya. This study is the first-time zebras have been assessed in their natural habitat to investigate the role of stripes in temperature control. Together, they have spent many years in sub-Saharan Africa, where he has directed environmental research and development projects. The findings have been published this month in the Journal of Natural History, the scientific publication of the British Natural History Museum, by amateur naturalist and former biology technician, Alison Cobb and her zoologist husband, Dr. These three elements are key to understanding how the zebras' unique patterning helps them manage their temperature in the heat. ![]() ![]() The authors argue it is the special way zebras sweat to cool down and the small-scale convection currents created between the stripes which aid evaporation, while the previously unrecorded ability of zebras to erect their black stripes is a further aid to heat loss. ![]()
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