Why Zebras Have Stripes: Flies

A new theory offers a simple explanation on why zebras have stripes: Horseflies hate them. Researchers discovered that the flies will go after an all-black animal or an all-white animal more than a striped one, reports LiveScience. What's more, the zebra's narrow, vertical stripes seem tailor-made to ward off the pests. (The researchers have some important-sounding rationale involving "horizontally polarized light" to back up their theory.)

"We believe that escaping biting flies, which are annoying to their hosts and transmit lethal diseases, would be a very important selection factor, which may have a much stronger effect than the benefits of striped coat patterns suggested previously," says one of the researchers.