Zebra Project Resources

Video of Zebra Rump Stripes in Motion (Simulated Predator Vision)

Demonstration: Zebra rump stripes are typically more salient than other stripes. Here, when a predator fails to stabilise the image of a zebra, due to rapid horizontal image motion, rump stripes remain salient. This likely attracts predator attention to the rear as the animal moves - particularly given the motion of the rump stripes across different phases of the animal’s stride. Top-left panel shows original video viewed with human acuity and trichromatic vision (limited only by the quality of the image), other panels simulate effects of predator acuity limitations and dichromacy. Predator vision estimates from Melin, Kline, Hiramatsu & Caro (2016). Stimulus filtering by A. Muhl-Richardson, original video credit to iStockPhoto GlobalP.