why do some animals have designs on their skins , are fur?

Question

like tigers and some snakes, zebras and some monkeys???? i know the answer??

Answer 1

Some patterns are camouflage. Tiger stripes look like tree shadows from the area where the tigers live. This helps them sneak up on their prey. Lions are the same, but they live in savannahs of usually dry grass, so that is their color. Leopards spend a lot of time in trees waiting to jump on something, so they look like leaf shadows.

Zebra stripes help them hide in a different way. From a long way away, where a lion would be hiding, it's difficult to tell one zebra from another. The stripes help to hide edges. That makes it harder for the predator to pick out a suitable prey.

Some snakes are trying to hide, like rattlers. Some snakes are warning you, like king snakes, which are poisonous.

Generally, bright colors mean "I'm poisonous; don't eat me," and dull colors mean "I'm not here; you can't see me."

Some animals use color as a means of attracting a mate. Peacocks for example. Peahens, on the other hand, are dully colored, so that they don't stand out and attract predators to the nest. The bright red rump of the baboon in heat is a symbol of its readiness to mate. The blue face of the sooty mangabey is meant to be an attractor. It says "I catch so much food I can afford to waste energy just being pretty." In other words, "I'm a good hunter and will provide for you and our young. Please mate with me." It's the animal equivalent of a Rolex and a Porsche.

Answer 2

As for zebras, the gene for black pigment does not work when it's methylated. Early in pregnancy, some chemical gradient in the uterus induces a sine-shaped (up-and-down) pattern in the concentration of methylation factors along the spinal axis in the embryo. As the fetus grows, the new cells inherit the methylation state of the original cells.

The evolutionary explanation is probably that it is difficult for a predator to locate an individual zebra in a big herd because the stripes get mixed up with the borders between individual zebras. If there are non-striped zebras in the herd, the predator will tend to follow it because it's easier. Therefore, the striped zebras had better chance of survival.

As for leopards, the pigmentation pattern is a self-organized system. This means that factors in the follicles (hair-producing cells) influence neighbor cells, and this mutual influence generates a pattern. The evolutionary explanation is that in an environment with scattered light and shade the spotted fur provides camouflage and makes it difficult for the prey to notice the leopard.

Answer 3

I just went through some of your answers and thought that maybe this could have been what you were reported for. You used the term azz.
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AiRHSPVHy7FhyxAcr5fLanbsy6IX?qid=20060817183717AAdUIhL

Not sure, though. Have you read the guidelines yet? That helped me understand why I got nailed.

As to why animals have designs on their fur... it has to do with blending in to their surroundings so that predators have a hard time seeing them.

It's also God's way of making them nice to look at for us humans.

'Nuff said?

Answer 4

It is actually quite a long list of reasons... to blend into their surroundings to prevent being seen by their prey or predators... to attract mates in order to reproduce so as to ensure the continuity of their own kind...

Answer 5

to serve as comoflauge i gues to hide from their predators and or to better stalk theiur prey and or to serve as proctection for the weather on the habitat their on.

Answer 6

They born in Helwatt Packard........lol