7 Interesting Facts About Animal Patterns

Zebra Stripes Could Be Pest Control

It can be tricky to pin down just why an animal’s coat looks a certain way, and scientists have a few ideas about why zebras evolved to have their trademark black and white stripes — they might act as thermoregulation, or as a unique, confusion-based kind of camouflage, to name just a couple of examples. But one of the more promising, consistent theories — although scientists are still ultimately divided — is that the striped pattern keeps dangerous flies away.

After finding that zebra stripes are more pronounced in areas of Africa with more horseflies and tsetse flies (which can transmit deadly diseases among equines), an evolutionary biologist assembled a team for a new experiment. They observed horses, some dressed up in zebra-striped coats, next to some especially tame zebras, and found that while flies hovered around all of them, they rarely landed on zebras or the striped horses compared to the horses without coats. When flies would approach zebra-striped surfaces, they would behave as if they couldn’t find a good spot to land.

Black Panthers Have Spots

Black panthers aren’t a distinct biological species. Depending on the region, they’re technically either black leopards (Africa and Asia) or black jaguars (Central and South America), and often live in different regions than their tan-coated brethren, perhaps because black is more effective camouflage in those environments. But just because their black and near-black coats don’t show off their spots doesn’t mean they don’t have them. They’re just far more subtle.

Sometimes the spots are visible by just looking closely in good light, but researchers have been able to see black panther spots in the vast majority of cases using infrared light. Viewed that way, most black leopards just look like black-and-white portraits of higher-contrast cats.

Tiger Skin Is Striped, Too

There are very few reasons for someone to shave a tiger, but when they do (for example, if a tiger needs veterinary care), the animal’s skin matches the pattern of their coat, almost like it has been tattooed on. (And the pattern of each tiger’s stripes is unique.)

Because tigers are apex predators, they don’t usually need to hide from potential threats, but their striped pattern gives them an advantage in hunting. Many species that the tiger hunts as prey, including deer, are colorblind, so tigers actually appear green to them — and the stripes keep them from sticking out too much from the trees.

Ladybugs Come in Different Patterns

The ladybug (or ladybird or lady beetle)’s red and black dots are iconic, but they’re just one of many possible ladybug looks. In addition to red, their hard outer wings can be yellow or even black, and come in a variety of patterns. The yellow 22-spot ladybird, native to Europe, has (as its name suggests) 22 black spots. The Australian transverse ladybird has a vertical black band at its center and a more wavy pattern on its wings. In North America, the three-banded lady beetle is red with three thick black stripes, outlined in a more beigey color, on each of its wings.

Dalmatians Are Born Unspotted

You might remember this factoid from 101 Dalmatians. While adult Dalmatians are known for their many-spotted coats, their puppies are typically born all white, although some are born with patches. Most puppies start to show their spots in a few weeks. Each Dalmatian’s spots are unique, like a human’s fingerprints, so no two pups have the same pattern.

Speaking of 101 Dalmatians, this rambunctious breed is not one to take on lightly. After the release of the 1996 live-action film, Dalmatians began flooding animal shelters as adopting families realized they were in over their heads. This breed has been running alongside carriages for centuries — a normal walk is not going to cut it.

The “Eyes” on Peacock Feathers Don’t Move (Much)

How do you feel about prolonged eye contact? Peacocks, or male peafowl, are known to show off their famed colorful plumage, especially during courtship rituals. When a peahen is nearby, the peacock will start rattling his feathers at around 25 times per second, creating a noise to go along with the brilliantly hued show.

But as his feathers move, his eye spots, the circular blue and green shapes toward the top of each feather, stay mostly still. This part of the feather is created by feather barbs that are locked together. (Some researchers describe it as like Velcro.) This makes it much denser, and less ready to move, compared to the rest of the feather, making the whole display a bit more mesmerizing.

Spots and Stripes Can Be Just One Genetic Mutation Away

For a long time, cheetahs, which have spots, and king cheetahs, which have stripes on their backs, were considered separate species. Eventually scientists realized they were the same species, but now we know why they look so different: King cheetahs have variations in a gene researchers call Taqpep, which makes the cheetah’s ordinary spots “coalesce” into stripes and larger blotches. This distinct breed — not species — is found only in small populations in southern Africa.

This very same mutation affects the coats of domestic tabby cats, too. Many tabby cats, especially those in America, have the “mackerel tabby” pattern, which has tidy stripes. Cats with the same mutation that gives a king cheetah its stripes have the “blotched tabby” pattern, which is more, well, blotched, and are more common in Europe.