

#Are zebras with black stripes black skin
The production of melanin from melanocytes is "prevented during the development of a white hair, but not of a black hair," Caro told Live Science in an email. Zebras have black skin beneath their fur, but that doesnt mean that their stripes are necessarily white on black. Zebras' black fur is chock-full of melanin, but melanin is absent from white fur, in essence, because the follicles that make up the stripes of white hair have "turned off" melanocytes, meaning they don't churn out pigment. Many zoologists would say that a zebra is white because its stripes end towards the belly and the belly is mostly white. Biting flies are serious pests of livestock that cause economic losses in animal production. This pigment is known as melanin a lot of melanin leads to darker colors, like dark brown or black, while less melanin leads to lighter colors, such as hazel or blond, Live Science previously reported. zebra, any of three species of strikingly black-and-white striped mammals of the horse family Equidae (genus Equus): the plains zebra (E. Experimental and comparative studies suggest that the striped coats of zebras can prevent biting fly attacks. It would be better to reference the embryological evidence, or albinos. Using this example youd have people saying polar bears are black.

These cells produce a pigment that determines the color of hair and skin. Zebras are black with white stripes, but the reasoning here is poor it confuses the distinctions between an animals skin color and fur color.

Here's why: Every piece of hair - both light and dark - grows from a follicle filled with melanocyte cells, according to a 2005 review in the Journal of Investigative Dermatology. In fact, zebras actually have more light-colored hair than dark - their bellies are usually light - so it may seem that zebras are white with black stripes.īut that's not the case. Although zebras have black skin, different developmental processes determine their fur color, just like a light-skinned person can have dark hair, Caro said.
