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submitted 6 days ago by fossilesque@mander.xyz to c/science_memes@mander.xyz

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[-] bleistift2@sopuli.xyz 303 points 6 days ago

What distinguishes zebras from horses is that zebras live in anonymous herds. That is, they like to clump together to ward off predators, but they don’t know or like each other. They are not a uniform group with a leader. Horses on the other hand do have authorities and followers among them. And humans can hijack the role of the leader.

CGPGrey: The Real Reason We Don’t Ride Zebras (6:23)

[-] Tar_alcaran@sh.itjust.works 156 points 6 days ago

zebras live in anonymous herds. That is, they like to clump together to ward off predators, but they don’t know or like each other.

Zebra's don't like anyone, and they're not afraid to show it. Repeatedly.

[-] Skullgrid@lemmy.world 45 points 6 days ago

What distinguishes zebras from horses is that zebras live in anonymous herds.

says a lot about 4chan, the penny arcade GIFT theory, etc

[-] Duamerthrax@lemmy.world 60 points 6 days ago

With how Facebook forces real names, the idea that being anonymous has any influence where or not someone is a fuckwad had been debunked.

[-] AbsolutelyNotAVelociraptor@piefed.social 54 points 6 days ago

It's not the anonimity that makes people fuckwads. It's the lack of immediate consequences. A fuckwad won't get a punch in the face for what they say on facebook, hence they feel they can say anything and be a fuckwad.

[-] Duamerthrax@lemmy.world 50 points 6 days ago

"Social media made y'all way too comfortable with disrespecting people and not getting punched in the face for it", Mike Tyson

Regardless of how you feel about Tyson, Truth is Truth.

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[-] stenAanden@feddit.dk 24 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago)

This makes me wonder... How much of what he says is just conjecture? Do we ACTUALLY know with good certainty that zebras can't be domesticated due to their nature? Or is it just a hypothesis/theory that has reached widespread popularity?

I have heard that zebras (along with other African animals) can't be domesticated because they have evolved to live among humans, when we were still man-apes. But that maybe that's just conjecture too.

Note how he have no sources in his video or description. And his comparison to chickens, cows, sheep and cats don't seem to make much sense. The relation between humans and chickens/cows/sheep is markedly different from that of horses. Do wild fowl really have family structures? Cats don't yet they are still docile among humans.

Edit: even if we really can't do we know the reason why?

[-] cattywampas@lemmy.world 22 points 6 days ago

Yes, people have tried to domesticate zebras before and they're just too ornery.

[-] stenAanden@feddit.dk 14 points 6 days ago

But what if we spent longer time doing it? Like centuries, like with most other domesticated animals.

[-] stray@pawb.social 38 points 6 days ago

I'm not sure why you've been downvoted because you absolutely could domesticate them given sufficient time and consistent selective breeding. You could turn them into crabs if you wanted to. The trouble is that they don't have a very social disposition, so no one is motivated to dedicating their entire bloodline to the project. Most domestication happened kind of on accident as we developed symbiotic or exploitative relationships with various species.

[-] some_kind_of_guy@lemmy.world 15 points 6 days ago

+1 for carcinization reference

[-] HertzDentalBar 25 points 6 days ago

Domesticated animals generally start out already being somewhat agreeable. Like dogs hung around us, and work in a pack mentality, horses same thing, cats same thing. That's why we could domesticate racoons or some rodents if we wanted to.

Zebras are assholes and hate everyone

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[-] fossilesque@mander.xyz 17 points 6 days ago

nature's black bloc

[-] LH0ezVT@sh.itjust.works 7 points 6 days ago

Just wait until we have overturn the fascist system, then you'll be first against the wall!

[-] fossilesque@mander.xyz 7 points 5 days ago

Neigh!

[-] BigBenis@lemmy.world 87 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago)

The Cow says: Moo!

The Horse says: Neigh!

The Zebra says: I ain't nobody's bitch!

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[-] TomMasz@piefed.social 78 points 6 days ago

Horse-shaped, but definitely not a horse.

[-] BigDanishGuy@sh.itjust.works 24 points 6 days ago

Punk horse, running IDK chimpanzee firmware?

[-] PieMePlenty@lemmy.world 34 points 6 days ago

There's some accounts throughout history, but humans generally leave them alone. They're aggressive creatures surrounded by even more aggressive killing machines. So it stands to reason that an animal in that environment would be pretty tough to tame.

[-] HejMedDig@feddit.dk 13 points 5 days ago

What you don't spot on that picture is the front "zebra" in the back, is a painted horse. Apparently that helped the zebras remain more calm

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[-] UnrepententProcrastinator@lemmy.ca 13 points 6 days ago

It has to do with social structures from what I read a while ago.

Horses have a hierarchical structure and zebras don't.

[-] X@piefed.world 54 points 6 days ago

“Motherfucker, do you see the way I look?! Shit ain’t for the insta, that’s for sure. I’m quite visible to you so you have a long enough time to be getting far the fuck away from me.”

[-] underisk@lemmy.ml 20 points 6 days ago

I thought the stripes were actually camouflage and they’re just monochromatic because the things they’re hiding from have poor color vision.

[-] bleistift2@sopuli.xyz 38 points 6 days ago

Latest theory I heard was:

A 2014 study found a correlation between striping and overlap with horse and tsetse fly populations and activity. Other studies have found that zebras are rarely targeted by these insect species. Caro and colleagues (2019) studied captive zebras and horses and observed that neither could deter flies from a distance, but zebra stripes kept flies from landing, both on zebras and horses dressed in zebra print coats. […] White or light stripes painted on dark bodies have also been found to reduce fly irritations in both cattle and humans.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zebra

[-] crater2150@feddit.org 1 points 3 days ago

White or light stripes painted on dark bodies have also been found to reduce fly irritations in both cattle and humans.

A study about painting stripes on cattle won an Ig-Nobel Price in 2025: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/crkjzxrrkd5o (article has a photo of a painted cow)

[-] pulsey@feddit.org 19 points 6 days ago

brb getting a full body tattoo

[-] chicken@lemmy.dbzer0.com 26 points 6 days ago

The truth is we don't actually know because the zebras don't want us to:

So, the question why zebras have stripes have proven very difficult and not without risks – Stephen Cobb has been bitten in the arm and admitted to hospital twice. Despite the extra vigour of recent work, the answer remains inconclusive.

[-] SaharaMaleikuhm@feddit.org 26 points 6 days ago

Okay, but what about the moose?

[-] Agent641@lemmy.world 81 points 6 days ago

Moose can't ride zebras either

[-] ivanafterall@lemmy.world 22 points 6 days ago

Brother, a moose can ride whatever it damn well pleases. But I'd rather not get into the personal stuff, if you don't mind.

[-] King_Bob_IV@startrek.website 24 points 6 days ago

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moose_cavalry

[-] atomicorange@lemmy.world 15 points 6 days ago

Møøse bites kan be pretti nasti

[-] ThunderclapSasquatch@startrek.website 9 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago)

My grandmother knew a guy who raised a couple moose and used them to plow his feilds

[-] Maeve@kbin.earth 16 points 6 days ago

Other zebras: good luck with that, bye!

[-] jaybone@lemmy.zip 12 points 6 days ago

In the 1980s, in Tijuana, tourist kids could ride horses painted like zebras.

[-] stylusmobilus@aussie.zone 11 points 6 days ago

Yeah they survive for a reason. They’re very tough.

[-] stenAanden@feddit.dk 12 points 6 days ago

I honestly wonder if we actually COULD domesticate zebras but it would taking centuries or millennia. Just like other domesticated species.

[-] Chais@sh.itjust.works 18 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago)

No. Zebras don't have a herd hierarchy we can exploit. With horses you pick out the lead horse, tame it and boom, the whole herd follows you.
With zebras you get one zebra, if you're very lucky. More likely you'll get kicked and bitten.