[Animals] Tiger / History

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The tiger (Panthera tigris) is the largest living cat species and a member of the genus Panthera. It is most recognisable for its dark vertical stripes on orange fur with a white underside. An apex predator, it primarily preys on ungulates such as deer and wild boar. It is territorial and generally a solitary but social predator, requiring large contiguous areas of habitat, which support its requirements for prey and rearing of its offspring. Tiger cubs stay with their mother for about two years, then become independent and leave their mother's home range to establish their own.

The tiger was first scientifically described in 1758 and once ranged widely from the Eastern Anatolia Region in the west to the Amur River basin in the east, and in the south from the foothills of the Himalayas to Bali in the Sunda Islands. Since the early 20th century, tiger po[CENSORED]tions have lost at least 93% of their historic range and have been extirpated from Western and Central Asia, the islands of Java and Bali, and in large areas of Southeast and South Asia and China. Today, the tiger's range is fragmented, stretching from Siberian temperate forests to subtropical and tropical forests on the Indian subcontinent, Indochina and Sumatra.

The tiger is listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List. As of 2015, the global wild tiger po[CENSORED]tion was estimated to number between 3,062 and 3,948 mature individuals, with most of the po[CENSORED]tions living in small isolated pockets. India currently hosts the largest tiger po[CENSORED]tion. Major reasons for po[CENSORED]tion decline are habitat destruction, habitat fragmentation and poaching. Tigers are also victims of human–wildlife conflict, particularly in range countries with a high human po[CENSORED]tion density.

The tiger is among the most recognisable and po[CENSORED]r of the world's charismatic megafauna. It featured prominently in the ancient mythology and folklore of cultures throughout its historic range, and continues to be depicted in modern films and literature, appearing on many flags, coats of arms and as mascots for sporting teams. The tiger is the national animal of India, Bangladesh, Malaysia and South Korea.The Middle English tigre and Old English tigras derive from Old French tigre, from Latin tigris. This was a borrowing of Classical Greek τίγρις 'tigris', a foreign borrowing of unknown origin meaning 'tiger' and the river Tigris.[4] The origin may have been the Persian word tigra meaning 'pointed or sharp', and the Avestan word tigrhi 'arrow', perhaps referring to the speed of the tiger's leap, although these words are not known to have any meanings associated with tigers.[5]

 

 

 

The generic name Panthera is derived from the Latin word panthera, and the Ancient Greek word πάνθηρ 'panther'.[6] The Sanskrit word पाण्डर pāṇḍ-ara means 'pale yellow, whitish, white'.[7]Following Linnaeus's first descriptions of the species, several tiger specimens were described and proposed as subspecies.[11] The validity of several tiger subspecies was questioned in 1999. Most putative subspecies described in the 19th and 20th centuries were distinguished on basis of fur length and colouration, striping patterns and body size, hence characteristics that vary widely within po[CENSORED]tions. Morphologically, tigers from different regions vary little, and gene flow between po[CENSORED]tions in those regions is considered to have been possible during the Pleistocene. Therefore, it was proposed to recognize only two tiger subspecies as valid, namely P. t. tigris in mainland Asia, and P. t. sondaica in the Greater Sunda Islands.[12]

Results of craniological analysis of 111 tiger skulls from Southeast Asian range countries indicate that Sumatran tiger skulls differ from Indochinese and Javan tiger skulls, whereas Bali tiger skulls are similar in size to Javan tiger skulls. The authors proposed to classify the Sumatran and Javan tigers as distinct species, P. sumatrae and P. sondaica, with the Bali tiger as subspecies P. sondaica balica.[13]

In 2015, morphological, ecological, and molecular traits of all putative tiger subspecies were analysed in a combined approach. Results support distinction of the two evolutionary groups continental and Sunda tigers. The authors proposed recognition of only two subspecies, namely P. t. tigris comprising the Bengal, Malayan, Indochinese, South Chinese, Siberian and Caspian tiger po[CENSORED]tions, and P. t. sondaica comprising the Javan, Bali and Sumatran tiger po[CENSORED]tions. The authors also noted that this reclassification will affect tiger conservation management. The nominate subspecies P. t. tigris constitutes two clades:[14]

a northern clade composed of the Siberian and Caspian tiger po[CENSORED]tions
a southern clade composed of all other mainland po[CENSORED]tions.
One conservation specialist welcomed this proposal as it would make captive breeding programmes and future rewilding of zoo-born tigers easier. One geneticist was sceptical of this study and maintained that the currently recognised nine subspecies can be distinguished genetically.[15]

In 2017, the Cat Classification Task Force of the IUCN Cat Specialist Group revised felid taxonomy and recognized the tiger po[CENSORED]tions in continental Asia as P. t. tigris, and those in the Sunda Islands as P. t. sondaica.[16] This two-subspecies view has been largely rejected by researchers. Results of a 2018 whole-genome sequencing of 32 specimens support six monophyletic tiger clades corresponding with the living subspecies and indicate that the most recent common ancestor lived about 110,000 years ago.[17][18] The following tables are based on the classification of the species Panthera tigris provided in Mammal Species of the World.[11] It also reflects the classification used by the Cat Classification Task Force in 2017:

 

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiger