Photograph of a spotted zebra in Zambia.
A spotted zebra is an individual zebra which has spots instead of distinctive stripes.[1] The most famous individual was photographed in a herd of normal plains zebras roaming northern Zambia's Rukwa Valley.[2][1]
Jonathan B. L. Bard noted that the existence of mostly black zebras with white spots shows that zebras are black animals with white stripes, not vice-versa:[2]
- "It is only possible to understand the pattern [of the spotted zebra] if the white stripes had failed to form properly and that therefore the 'default' colour is black. The role of the striping mechanism is thus to inhibit natural pigment formation rather than to stimulate it."