A zebra was born with brown skin and white dots instead of stripes

[Inkriql]

A zebra born in a natural reserve of Masai Mara, in Kenya, Africa, has become world famous for the particular characteristic with which it was born.

Antony Tira, a tour guide and photographer from the region, was the first to see the animal near the Mara River on September 14. The images of the baby zebra have gone viral after the Maasai Mara Wildlife Conservancies Association posted them on Facebook.

The specimen has dots instead of stripes, and instead of being white with black - like the rest of the zebras - its predominant colors are brown and black.

According to the Botanist Adventures site, this condition is a genetic variation linked to melanism and opposed to albinism; It causes a buildup of dark pigmented melanin in the skin.

However, although its appearance is different from the rest of the pack, so far it has not been relegated by their peers.

In early June, a study revealed that zebra stripes serve to regulate their body temperature. It was previously believed to be used to protect against insects such as mosquitoes.

In the study, published in the Journal of Natural History, the authors explained that stripes serve zebras to sweat and make their temperature drop.

Although another study published in the Royal Society Open Science magazine determined that, in effect, stripes also have an "anti-mosquito" function. According to the researchers, these decrease the polarization of the reflected light, making them less appetizing for mosquitoes.

To argue the theory, the researchers experimented with horses, which they disguised with black and white striped coats.

According to the study, the different intensity with which the two types of stripes on the skin of zebras reflect the light can "blind" with their glow to flies and horseflies when they approach to perch on the skin to suck their blood

The researchers found that horseflies stood on dressed horses less frequently than those without striped coats. They say this is another proof that zebra stripes offer protection against insects that suck blood and spread disease. "Equine flies simply seem to fly over zebra stripes or collide with them, which is not the case with horses," said Tim Caro, professor emeritus of UC Davis and honorary research member of the School of Biological Sciences of the University of Bristol.

"We observed and filmed the behavior of horse flies near captive and horse zebras, and discovered that the flies could not decelerate and land successfully near the rays," explain the research published in the Public Library of Science ONE.

The study concluded that the stripes on zebras have been a form of defense of the animal against attacks by insects, which has important implications for the work of protection of horses and other horses against bites.

The problem with the newborn zebra in Kenya is that due to its particularity it can be easy to detect by savanna predators.