Why Do Zebras Have Stripes

One day a thoughtful zebra pondered whether he was white with black stripes, or black with white stripes. This question bothered him his whole life so when he died, he asked St. Peter. St. Peter didn't know and said he would have to go ask God.

Later St. Peter returned and reported that god said "You are what you are". Still confused, the zebra asked St. Peter what that meant. He was told that it meant the zebra was white with black stripes. Now even more confused, he asked St. Peter how he came to that conclusion? St. Peter said "Well, if you were black with white stripes, he would have said "You is what you is"!.
(Please don't call me racist, this was told to me by a good friend of mine that happened to be black).
 
silver-eagle said:
Government paid research? And knowing his answer/theory helps us how?
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It could lead to something that might help soldiers who happen to be maneuvering in that particular terrain where blood sucking flies hang out. Such information that might be useful, maybe, someday, perhaps, is probably well worth the several millions of dollars spent on all the people involved, those in the bureaucracy that award grants, supervisor meetings, Christmas parties, research departments, and finally to the actual scientists who garner such important information for us.

-John
 
That is pretty interesting. Perhaps that can help determine bug-o-flauge that could augment or reduce the need for chemical bug repellent. Truly advance the human race? No, but cool to know.
 
Could this knowledge help us ward off the blood-sucking pests in Washington, DC? :dunno:
 
This is great information! The flies in certain areas of the outer banks can get real bad in the summer. Building my zebra suit now.

zebra_costume_vs_lions_01.jpg
 
LDJones said:
Could this knowledge help us ward off the blood-sucking pests in Washington, DC? :dunno:
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No effective insecticide to those pests has been developed at this time.
 
Ted DuPuis said:
No effective insecticide to those pests has been developed at this time.
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Not really true, but the pests have managed to make it illegal to use most of the more effective means to remove them. It's like the flies having outlawed fly swatters, bug zappers and fly paper.
 
JOhnH said:
One day a thoughtful zebra pondered whether he was white with black stripes, or black with white stripes. This question bothered him his whole life so when he died, he asked St. Peter. St. Peter didn't know and said he would have to go ask God.

Later St. Peter returned and reported that god said "You are what you are". Still confused, the zebra asked St. Peter what that meant. He was told that it meant the zebra was white with black stripes. Now even more confused, he asked St. Peter how he came to that conclusion? St. Peter said "Well, if you were black with white stripes, he would have said "You is what you is"!.
(Please don't call me racist, this was told to me by a good friend of mine that happened to be black).
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:lol:
 
So, the stripes were a better evolutionary development than thicker hair?

hmmmmm.
 
Norman said:
I needed one of those at Ocracoke a few years back. :yes:
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Right. No lions there, so you should be fine.

I don't know what it is, but certain times of the year, when the wind is in just the right direction that airport becomes infested.
 
So, what did studies of fruit fly eyes and wings, along with studies of the posteriorizing region of vertebrate limb buds all contribute to?

If you guessed carcinogenesis, you guessed correctly. The advances made in unassuming directions cannot be easily counted. The shortsightedness of the uninformed will doom us all.

Nor is this the first instance of evolution by parasitism. It is widely thought that the sickle cell hemoglobin allele has been maintained in African populations to do malarial parasitism.

Very cool study though, thanks for the link.
 
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