The reason zebras sport black and white stripes has been one of the greatest mysteries of Time.

Researchers in the past posited, the coloring could be a form of camouflage, a way of confusing and disrupting the attack of predatory carnivores. Maybe the stripes helped manage body heat, researchers wondered, or served some sort of social function.

Then again, perhaps, someone along the way suggested, the stripes were simply a form of biological pest control -- to keep those annoying, biting flies at bay.

After many millennia of human speculation, a scientific team led by the University of California, Davis, thinks it's cracked the code of the zebra stripes -- and, no fooling, their findings are published today, April 1, in the online journal Nature Communications.

The researchers, in a university news release, explain they mapped the geographic distributions of the seven different species of zebras, horses and asses, as well as their subspecies, keeping in mind the thickness, locations, and intensity of their stripes on several parts of their bodies.

They next compared the animals' geographic ranges with different variables, including woodland environments, the ranges of large predators, temperature and the geographic distribution of glossinid and tabanid biting flies, otherwise known as tsetse flies and horse flies respectively.

After all the factors were accounted for, the scientists said in a news release, they examined where the zebras and the list of variables overlapped and eventually honed in on one prevailing factor: the flies.

"I was amazed by our results," said lead author Tim Caro, a UC Davis professor of wildlife biology. "Again and again, there was greater striping on areas of the body in those parts of the world where there was more annoyance from biting flies."

While the presence of tsetse flies in Africa is well documented, the researchers couldn't find any maps that plotted the distribution of horse flies or deer flies. So, instead, the researchers mapped areas determined to provide the best breeding conditions for tabanids, essentially creating an environmental substitute for the fly distributions.

The team found variations in the zebra striping was associated with several consecutive months of ideal conditions for tabanid reproduction.

The study further determined zebras evolved with stripes while other hooved mammals didn't because the zebra's short hair, compared to the hair of other creatures, leaves them more susceptible to the winged blood-suckers.

Still, why do biting flies seem to avoid striped surfaces? Caro said that part of the black-and-white puzzle still needs to be answered. Right now, said Caro, his research team is focusing on the data they've collected and enjoying the fact they appear to have solved one of the greatest enigmas in life.

"No one knew why zebras have such striking coloration," he said. "But solving evolutionary conundrums increases our knowledge of the natural world and may spark greater commitment to conserving it."