Talk:Zebra

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Zebra is either included in the 2006 Wikipedia CD Selection or is a candidate for inclusion in the next version (the project page is at WPCD Selection). Please maintain high quality standards, and if possible stick to GFDL and GFDL-compatible images.

Contents 1 Legality of "natural zebra hides" 2 The way to tell a male from a female 3 Color of the Stripes 4 Riding a zebra 5 Irrelevant passage 6 Error 7 Pictures 8 How the zebra got its stripes 9 Crossbreed aka zebra hybrid 10 expand? 11 Taxobox pic 12 ambiguity in text 13 Equus hartmannae & Equus zebra

[edit] Legality of "natural zebra hides"

Are all Zebra species endangered or only some? Because I notice some businesses advertised on google claim to sell "natural zebra hide" products. Just curious if this means some are not endandered (or the companies are full of crap in their advertising), or if something illegal is going on that should be reported...

[edit] The way to tell a male from a female

Lunkwill,

It is only YOUR OPINION the way to tell a male from a female is a bad joke. Perhaps you should not be so dictatorial, overbearing and arrogant to think that someone else might have another opinion.

Lighten up!

[edit] Color of the Stripes

Maybe this is silly, but what color are the stripes? Is the Zebra black with white stripes or white with black stripes. Surely there must be a dominant color for the zebra and the other is the stripe?

It is said that the skin of the zebra ia black, however hairs are white where they make white straps. Therefore the answer is zebra is black with white straps. Further, these straps are unique for each zebra like our finger prints. (PK 06:34, 4 June 2006 (UTC))

[edit] Riding a zebra

can zebra ever be trained to be ridden? why is that one never sees it?

thanks.

Xah P0lyglut 10:10, 2003 Nov 29 (UTC)

Zebras do not have a suitable temprment. The can be tamed and seem broken to the task, but then suddenly attack with teeth or hooves, utterly without warning. Tannin

[edit] Irrelevant passage

Removed irrelevant passage, not sure if user was a vandal or just confused:

"Those who have travelled in South Africa and spent some of their time in the province of KwaZulu/Natal, might have been fortunate enough to have seen something of the colourful beadwork for which the Zulu in that part of the country are well known. Decorative beadwork is sold at many outlets in the region and in major centres throughout the countery, where some of these beaded trinkets have been offered to souvenir huners as "Zulu love letters". To appreciate the true significance of traditional Zulu beadwork, however, one has to understand how effectively the Zulu have integrated social values into their arts and crafts. Traditional colours, colour combinations and patterns are still found in modern Zulu beadwork but the real eloquence is rapidly subsiding under the pressures of urbanization and culture change"

Sayeth 14:11, Sep 6, 2004 (UTC)

[edit] Error

There seems to be an error in this page:

Grevy's Zebra (Equus grevyi) is the largest type, similar in appearance to Grevy's Zebra but with an erect mane, and a long, narrow head making it appear rather mule-like.

The second "Grevy's Zebra" probably is supposed to be one of the other two species. - Andre Engels 11:46, 31 Oct 2004 (UTC)

indeed, and since I no one has fixed it and I wasn't sure what was meant, I removed the phrase. perhaps the original author will eventually correct it. enhandle mar 8 '05

[edit] Pictures

At the moment, there are a lot of pictures. The flow of the text is disrupted. Can we choose? JFW | T@lk 10:54, 26 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Yes, too many perhaps but instead of choosing I've moved one up and to the left: it works for me. Jimp 04:50, 1 February 2006 (UTC)

[edit] How the zebra got its stripes

Surprising how little input there's been into this article, as the subject of how the Zebra got his stripes is quite an interesting one. The theory put forward here (and it is only a theory, one among many) is a weak one and not widely supported:

"The stripes have a cooling effect due to convection currents."

I'm not an expert in this field, but if black and white stripes had any significant cooling properties, humans would be using them in industry all over the place. Other theories (also weak, but worth mentioning) are: camouflage (long grass); creating a blur of stripes to confuse lions while running, making it harder to judge their leap; and having a similarly optically confusing effect as seen from a distance, distorted by heat currents. A newer and much more interesting theory (all others are pure guesswork and don't stand up to scientific scritiny) is that of protection from the Tsetse fly. Simple experiments have proved that, for whatever reason, this fly is repelled by black-and-white stripes, particularly horizontal ones (hence the horizontal stripes on the zebra's behind). I'd appreciate it if someone with specialist knowledge could elaborate on this and incorporate it into the article. Thanks. Palefire

User:Palefire's mention of the stripes putting off tsetse flies intrigued me, and so I had a quick hunt through Google. I have not tried the more specialist catalogues. But in date order, here's what I found:

• The development of zebra striping patterns: article from DevBio, a site which supplements Developmental Biology by Scott F Gilbert, lists several theories. Waage is the "to confuse tsetses" one.
  • Waage, J. K. 1981. How the zebra got its stripes: biting flies as selective agents in the evolution of zebra coloration. J. Entom. Soc. South Afric. 44: 351-358.
• New Life For A Vanished Zebra?:article about quagga-breeding mentions off-handedly that while entomologist Gabriella Gibson says a tsetse is 53 times more likely to land on a black target than on a stripy one, "zebras are largely immune to tsetses, so why evolve an elaborate fly screen"? No further information about Gibson though.
• Some document repository (sorry :)) cites this promising-sounding article:
  • Ruxton, G.D., 2002. The possible fitness benefits of striped coat coloration for zebra. Mammal Review, 32 (4): 237-244. ..which has an abstract listing four general theories, suggesting that the tsetse tests are inconclusive, and reappraising the camouflage one.

So someone with a university library can hunt these down.

Telsa 16:52, 23 August 2005 (UTC)

Zebra with spots - very interesting picture here - Rooivalk 19:42, 22 November 2005 (UTC)

Some document repository mentioned above would be hosted by the quite respectable organisation called... the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations!

[edit] Crossbreed aka zebra hybrid

removed section on crossbreeds for now, as both removals (quote: 'this is retarted') and the previously existing text (no references) were not ideal. However there are some references to be found on Zebra Hybrids, e.g. BBC and elsewhere. If there is solid text on circumstances and cases, with references, we might consider recreating a Zebra hybrid section.Santaduck 20:38, 29 March 2006 (UTC)

I say it's fine without. There's already an article on Zebroids.

hey

[edit] expand?

A lot of famous animals have extensive articles on Wikipedia. Maybe the Zebra article could be expanded?

[edit] Taxobox pic

I replaced the picture in the taxobox with one that I felt was clearly better that I took. The resolution was much higher, the picture quality was excellent, and the zebra's face took up more of the picture, thus making better use of our pixel real estate. I stated as much as when I was doing so. The photographer of the original picture objected and reverted (not only the picture change but also the content addition -- sloppy revert), without justifying why they felt that their lower-res, more zoomed out picture was better.

As such, I've brought it to discussion. Which photo is better?

A) B)

I'll also add that my pic uses a wide aperture so as to blur the background and sharpen the foreground, thus preventing the background from drawing your eyes. -- Rei 18:46, 30 August 2006 (UTC)

Apologies about the excessive revert. The main reason I like mine better is that your chops off the zebra's nose, and leaves the shape of its head indistinct. I think mine's better framed (missed the tips of the ears, though; dang!), and has a clearer demarcation between its face and body. Lunkwill 18:02, 9 September 2006 (UTC)

Lunkwill's picture is better. Rei's image zooms in too close, cutting off too much of the subject - this flaw is especially prominenet in the reduced image in the taxbox, which looks less like a zebra, more like a mess of stripes. So I would support reverting back. Nevertheless, I do accept Rei's point about higher resolution being preferable, and given that the background in Lunkwill's picture doesn't look like a Zebra's natural habitat (correct me if I'm wrong), a wider aperture would have helped draw attention away from that. Although of course that can be easily fixed in Photoshop. Palefire 14:49, 18 September 2006 (UTC)

I'm not trying to be aggressive, but given that the vote is 2-1 after about a week, I wanted to switch the image back before I forgot about it. If you still feel strongly about it, I think there are several standard options for peer review that might bring in more outside opinions than just the three we've expressed here. Best wishes, Lunkwill 19:12, 24 September 2006 (UTC)

[edit] ambiguity in text

"During the course of a day the plains zebra can walk around forty kilometres (from its herd, and back again in the evening)."

I assume this means a plains zebra can walk 80km a day? --82.133.79.7 10:44, 29 September 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Equus hartmannae & Equus zebra

Mountain Zebra pretty clearly states that the current scholarship on the Mountain Zebra puts E. hartmannae & E. zebra are two seperate species. This is per Groves & Bell, 2004. I don't want to start some kind of reversion scandal over zebras, but it seems pretty clear to me that they should be seperately delineated in the taxobox. --mordicai. 20:46, 30 October 2006 (UTC)