![]() ![]() "Zebra." International Museum of the Horse."The Development of Zebra Striping Pattern." Swarthmore Virtual Library of Developmental Biology."Zebras: Born to Roam." National Geographic Magazine. "Horses, Asses and Zebras." Ralph Curtis Books. "Grevy's Zebra." Smithsonian National Zoological Park."Patterns in Nature." Natural History Magazine. ![]() To top it off, most zebras have dark skin beneath their fur. There has been the opposite however in mother nature. Also if you look at photos of them, you can see that the black 'stripes' end towards the belly and inside of their legs leaving the rest striped fur as white. That means black is the actual color of the fur, and the white patches are simply the areas that lack pigmentation. They have dark skin under their fur which will produce black fur. But Lisa Smith, Curator of Large Mammals at Zoo Atlanta, reports that the coat is "often described as black with white stripes." This makes sense since the pattern is a result of pigment activation (black) and inhibition (white). Speaking of stripes, that brings us to the age-old question: What color is a zebra? If you research this answer, you'll quickly discover many conflicting perspectives. Zebras have owllike eyesight and good hearing. Mathematical models haven't been able to accurately simulate the development of the pattern, but we do know that it takes place during the embryonic phase. If black and white stripes are painted on a wall, zookeepers say, a zebra will probably stand next to the wall. Certain chemical messengers regulate which melanocytes deliver their pigment to the zebra. Melanocyte skin cells produce the pigments that color the fur. While the specific processing of determining this striping pattern isn't known, it has something to do with selective pigmentation. Genetics determine the variety of stripes in zebras. ![]()
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