![]() Zebras with normal stripe patterns roam free in Pilanesberg National Park near Sun City, South Africa. Researchers say the inbreeding is due to small population sizes in nature reserves, which are further secluded due to surrounding groups of humans. They say that this inbreeding is lowering genetic diversity and making it more likely that a zebra will express the recessive trait for abnormal stripes. However, researchers say inbreeding is becoming more common among zebras. Check out this rare white orca that was spotted off the coast of Alaska.In the zebras’ case, until now it was quite rare for two zebras to mate who both have the recessive trait for abnormal stripes, so there weren’t a lot of zebras with this stripe pattern. White lions, which are extremely rare, get their colour due to a recessive gene, the chinchilla mutation, and have been extinct in the wild for more than 12 years. Researchers say that the abnormal stripes may be a recessive trait, and inbreeding is causing this trait to be more common.Ī recessive trait is one like blue eyes in humans that can be trumped by something called a dominant trait, like brown eyes. “ have these odd, mottled, weird looking stripes, a lot of black on their body, and their legs and face are almost all white with just the tiniest strips of black. She said there are other types of abnormal patterns that look even stranger. “The ones that we studied have spots on the saddle or kind of faded area on the saddle instead of stripes.” Larison says researchers suspect that these abnormal zebra patterns are a recessive trait. This zebra has unique spots in the middle of its body. How is that possible?Īccording to the new study, the total population of plains zebras has declined by about 25 per cent since 2002.īrenda Larison, an assistant adjunct professor in the department of ecology and evolutionary biology at the University of California, Los Angeles, said that as the population has decreased, more and more zebras with abnormal patterns are popping up in some areas. This ferret’s twin lived more than 30 years ago.Zebras are being forced into small groups, so they have fewer mating options. Inbreeding is when two closely related animals (e.g., brother and sister) mate, over generations. They found that the abnormal stripes could be a result of inbreeding due to human activity. In a new study published in the journal Molecular Ecology, biologists looked at DNA from 140 plains zebras across Africa, including seven with abnormal stripes. Over the last few decades, more and more zebras across Africa are being born with abnormal stripe patterns, and new research says that humans may be partly to blame. Zebras may be getting a makeover - sort of. Researchers say it may be due to inbreeding. Zebras are being born with abnormal stripes. Sometimes, things that seem boring are actually very cool.Humans could be to blame for stripe problem ![]() The researchers found that once they distorted the lines slightly or blurred their edges, the oscillations died down.” Bonus stripe fact: Vertical stripes aren’t as bad as horizontal ones, and no one knows why. That’s because “It seems that our brains are not designed to cope with such extreme regularity, as it doesn’t occur in nature. One answer, notes the article, comes from “Research from the Netherlands and the US just published in the journal Current Biology suggests that looking at intensely stripy things causes an increase in gamma oscillations in the brain, which are associated with headaches and seizures.” But some of these effects are more likely to be inducted by human-created stripes, like those generated by venetian blinds, as compared to natural stripes, like those found on zebras. Why? A fun little piece in The Guardian, part of the un-bylined Pass Notes series, examines this question. For other people, they can cause even less pleasant symptoms. At some point or another, looking at a stripy pattern has probably caused you to experience some sort of weird visual distortion. ![]() Stripes: It’s easy to forget, but they’re kinda weird. Photo: Danita Delimont/Getty Images/Gallo Images ![]()
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