Horseflies misjudge landings on zebra patterns, compared with solid gray or black surfaces, which provides evidence for why evolution came up with the black-and-white pattern. Everyone loves zebras.

LONG BEACH >> They aren’t painted. Instead, zebras developed stripes to keep biting flies away, according to Theodore Stankowich, an assistant professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at Cal ...

How did the zebra get its stripes? The fashionable patterned coat protects the animal from horsefly bites by disorienting the flies during the landing process, research has shown. But how exactly do ...

With its black and white fur and fluffy mane, the zebra is one of the most distinctive creatures in the animal kingdom. But how exactly did the zebra get its stripes? Scientists from the University of ...

Zebras are famous for their contrasting black and white stripes – but until very recently no one really knew why they sport their unusual striped pattern. It’s a question that’s been discussed as far ...

, a new study suggests. There's good evolutionary reason to escape the ravages of horseflies, at least for horses and their relatives; though flies are just annoying pests from the human perspective, ...

A zebra's stripes, a seashell's spirals, a butterfly's wings: these are all examples of patterns in nature. The formation of patterns is a puzzle for mathematicians and biologists alike. How does the ...

Scientists in Hungary and Sweden say they've found an answer to the age-old question of how the zebra got its stripes. It turns out the pattern may have evolved to repel Africa's biting flies. The ...