What’s black and white and red all over?
A sunburned zebra! 

Just one problem with that joke—a zebra doesn’t get sunburned! In fact, recent research suggests that the animal’s striped coat not only protects it from the sun’s UV rays, but it also might be a cooling feature. Is this the reason zebras have stripes? Today, we answer this question with help from National Geographic. 

A zebra’s iconic black and white stripes have stumped scientists since Darwin’s time. Now, thanks to a recent study published in the Royal Society Open Science, we find ourselves one step closer to an answer. 

Brenda Larison, a biologist at the University of California, and her colleagues studied 16 zebra populations throughout Africa and measured 29 different environmental factors to find and understand a correlation between the stripes and the animal's habitat. What they discovered is that temperature emerges as the factor most strongly linked to striping. 

“The warmer the temperatures, the more stripes on the zebra,” National Geographic reports.

So, how do stripes effect a zebra’s body temperature? The scientists present two theories that they admittedly say need more research. 

The first is the “cooling eddy” theory. Because the color black absorbs more heat than the color white, this theory suggests air flows more quickly over the black stripes and slows over the white stripes. That creates little eddies, or swirls of air, which cool the zebra’s skin. And after long hours of grazing under the hot sun, even a slight breeze probably feels pretty great! 

The second theory is that idea that more stripes may help prevent disease by acting as insect repellent. According to National Geographic, “Experiments in the field have shown that biting flies don't like landing on striped surfaces.” Since insects tend to thrive in hot temperatures, the more stripes on a zebra’s back, the better if the black and white contrast is screaming, “Shoo-fly! Don’t bother me!”