Zebra StripesUniversity of Chicago Press, 2016/12/05 - 268 ページ From eminent biologists like Alfred Russel Wallace and Charles Darwin to famous authors such as Rudyard Kipling in his Just So Stories, many people have asked, “Why do zebras have stripes?” There are many explanations, but until now hardly any have been seriously addressed or even tested. In Zebra Stripes, Tim Caro takes readers through a decade of painstaking fieldwork examining the significance of black-and-white striping and, after systematically dismissing every hypothesis for these markings with new data, he arrives at a surprising conclusion: zebra markings are nature’s defense against biting fly annoyance. Popular explanations for stripes range from camouflage to confusion of predators, social facilitation, and even temperature regulation. It is a serious challenge to test these proposals on large animals living in the wild, but using a combination of careful observations, simple field experiments, comparative information, and logic, Caro is able to weigh up the pros and cons of each idea. Eventually—driven by experiments showing that biting flies avoid landing on striped surfaces, observations that striping is most intense where biting flies are abundant, and knowledge of zebras’ susceptibility to biting flies and vulnerability to the diseases that flies carry—Caro concludes that black-and-white stripes are an adaptation to thwart biting fly attack. Not just a tale of one scientist’s quest to solve a classic mystery of biology, Zebra Stripes is also a testament to the tremendous value of longitudinal research in behavioral ecology, demonstrating how observation, experiment, and comparative research can together reshape our understanding of the natural world. |
目次
1 Stripes and equids | 1 |
2 Predation and crypsis | 23 |
3 Predation and aposematism | 55 |
4 Predation and confusion | 71 |
5 Ectoparasites | 99 |
6 Intraspecific communication | 139 |
7 Temperature regulation | 153 |
8 Multifactorial analyses | 167 |
Appendix 2 Nature of wounding seen in African ungulates in Katavi National Park | 215 |
Appendix 3 Families of insects identified in each type of biconical trap color | 220 |
Appendix 4 Families of insects identified in each type of cloth trap color | 222 |
Appendix 5 Photographic sources for comparative analyses | 225 |
Appendix 6 Derivation of equid phylogenies | 231 |
Appendix 7 Phylogenetic analyses | 233 |
References | 235 |
267 | |
9 The case for biting flies | 193 |
Appendix 1 Scientific names of vertebrates mentioned in the text | 213 |
他 の版 - すべて表示
多 く使 われている語句
African analyses animals appear areas associated attracted average background behavior binoculars biting flies black and white black stripes body brown buffalo close coats coloration compared contrast crypsis difficult distance distribution effect equids et al experiments females Figure flank flight function gray greater Grevy’s zebra grooming habitats hair heights horizontal horse humans humidity idea impala individuals insects Katavi landing legs length less lions live maximum mean measures months mountain zebra moving neck Note observers patterns pelage pelt percentage plains zebras Plate polarization predators presented prey range rates recorded reflected relative respectively rump scored season seen similar species speeds spotted hyenas studies subjective subspecies surfaces tabanids Table tail temperature topi traps tsetse flies vertical wald waterbuck white stripes width wild ass wildebeest woodland