Colour patterns, such as the stripes on a zebra, reflect the precise spatiotemporal control of gene regulation and thus are informative for understanding the mechanisms underlying animal development. In a recent Nature Ecology & Evolution paper, Johnson et al. investigate the alternating light and dark dorsal stripes of the African striped mouse Rhabdomys pumilio. Using a combination of functional genomics, gene editing and mathematical modelling, the authors demonstrate how a WNT regulator contributes to the alternating light and dark dorsal stripes and overall pigmentation of these rodents.