Zebra stripes, revisited

One of the most intriguing questions in the natural world is how and why zebras developed their stripes. Many years ago I tried to answer that question, and more recently Tim Caro confirmed the validity of my conclusion that the tsetse fly is probably responsible. One question that remains is if the stripes evolved as black stripes appearing on a white (or lightly colored) animal, or white stripes appearing on a black animal. Now a story in National Geographic may give that answer. The skin underneath the striped fur of the zebra is black, making the latter more likely.

Are zebras white animals with black stripes, or vice versa?