Data and code from: The functional significance of striping in rodents

Rodents constitute a large proportion of extant mammal species and have a
uniform brown-gray coloration to avoid detection by predators. A minority,
however, have longitudinal dorsal stripes, the function of which is
unknown. Using a comparative approach, we explored whether striping in
rodents is a form of background matching, an example of dazzle coloration,
a social signal, or a signal to avoid hybridization with sympatric
congeners. We found some evidence that striping is associated with small
species, diurnality, and raptor and marginally with owl predation,
suggesting it could be a form of dazzle coloration interfering with
accurate interception by aerial predators approaching from above. There
was no evidence that stripes are used in communication between
conspecifics or for the avoidance of hybridization. Our study provides the
beginning of a functional underpinning to developmental studies of pattern
formation in mammals.