Answer:
Rapid acceleration requires a cheetah to have high oxygen intake adaptations including enlarged nostrils and extensive, air-filled sinuses. While running, a cheetah's specially adapted respiratory system allows it to go from a normal rate of 60 breaths per minute to 150 breaths per minute. The spine is highly flexible — another adaptation for an animal that makes sudden, long, and rapid strides.
The basic idea is that black stripes would absorb heat in the morning and warm up zebras, whereas white stripes reflect light more and could thus help cool zebras as they graze for hours in the blazing sun. Zebras camouflage helps to confuse big predators, and gives an identity signal to other zebras and a kind of wearable air conditioner. Now most scientists agree that the function of a zebra's stripes is to ward off biting flies that can carry deadly diseases.
