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英文原稿
Mammals are much less colorful than other flamboyant animal groups, but some are strikingly attired in black-and-white.
What purpose do such high-contract patterns serve?
Deciphering what zebras gain from having stripes has puzzled scientists for more than a century.
To try to solve the mystery, biologist Tim Caro spent more than a decade studying zebras inTanzania.
He ruled out theory after theory: stripes don’t keep them cool, stripes don't confuse predators.
In 2013 in savanna, He’s found an answer.
He set up flytraps covered in zebra skin and, for comparison, other draped in wildebeest skin. He saw that flies don't seem to like landing on the stripes. After more research he concluded that stripes can literally save a zebra’s hide from disease-carrying pests.
Black-and-white may not be as eye-popping as fluorescent scales—but it can pay off for the mammals that sport it.
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