The tiger’s closest living relatives are the lion, leopard and jaguar, all of which are classified under the genus Panthera. The oldest remains of an extinct tiger relative, called Panthera zdanskyi or the Longdan tiger, have been found in the Gansu province of northwestern China. This species is considered to be a sister taxon [species/family] to the extant [currently existent/surviving] tiger and lived about 2 million years ago in the late Pliocene epoch.

The tiger [Panthera tigris] is the largest cat species, reaching a total body length of up to 11.1 ft [3.38 m] over curves and weighing up to 857 lb [around 61 stones] [388.7 kg] in the wild. Its most recognisable feature is a pattern of dark vertical stripes on reddish-orange fur with a lighter underside.

Tigers are apex predators, primarily preying on ungulates such as deer and bovids. They are territorial and generally solitary but social animals, often requiring large contiguous areas of habitat that support their prey requirements. This, coupled with the fact that they are indigenous to some of the more densely populated places on Earth, has caused significant conflicts with humans.

Tigers first reached India and northern Asia in the late Pleistocene, reaching eastern Beringia [but not the American Continent], Japan, and Sakhalin. Fossils found in Japan indicate the local tigers were, like the surviving island subspecies, smaller than the mainland forms, an example of insular dwarfism. Until the Holocene [10,000 years ago], tigers also lived in Borneo, as well as on the island of Palawan in the Philippines.

The tiger’s full genome sequence was published in 2013. It and other cat genomes were found to have similar repeat composition and an appreciably conserved synteny [of genes, occurring on the same chromosome]

From Wikipedia – Compiled and Edited by Dave Draper

Bengal tiger

The Bengal tiger Panthera tigris tigris is the most numerous tiger subspecies. Its populations have been estimated at 1,706 –1,909 in India, 440 in Bangladesh, 163 –253 in Nepal and 67–81 in Bhutan. Since 2010, it has been classified as endangered by the IUCN. The total population is estimated at fewer than 2,500 individuals with a decreasing trend, and none of the Tiger Conservation Landscapes within the Bengal tiger’s range is large enough to support an effective population size of 250 adult individuals

The Bengal tiger’s coat is yellow to light orange, with stripes ranging from dark brown to black; the belly and the interior parts of the limbs are white, and the tail is orange with black rings.

Male Bengal tigers have an average total length of 110 to 120 in [270 to 310 cm] including the tail, while females measure 94 to 104 [240 to 265 cm] in on average. The tail is typically 33 to 43 in [85 to 110 cm] long, and on average, tigers are 35 to 43 in [90 to 110 cm] in height at the shoulders. The weight of males ranges from 400 to 550 lb [180 to 250 kg], while that of the females ranges from 100 to 160 kg (220 to 350 lb). The smallest recorded weights for Bengal tigers are from the Bangladesh Sundarbans, where adult females are 165–176 lb [75–80 kg]. Bengal tigers have exceptionally stout teeth, and the canines are the longest among all living felids; measuring from 3.0 to 3.9 in [7.5 to 10 cm] in length.

* The white tiger is a recessive mutant of the Bengal tiger, which is reported in the wild from time to time in Assam, Bengal, Bihar and especially from the former State of Rewa. However, it is not to be mistaken as an occurrence of albinism. In fact, there is only one fully authenticated case of a true albino tiger, and none of black tigers, with the possible exception of one dead specimen examined in Chittagong in 1846.

* The White Tiger [See the last Entry in Notes]

Bengal tiger
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Felidae
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Felidae is the biological family of the cats; a member of this family is called a felid, or cat. The most familiar felid is the domestic cat, which first became associated with humans about 10,000 years ago, but the family includes all other wild cats, including the big cats.

Extant felids belong to one of two subfamilies: Pantherinae [which includes the tiger, the lion, the jaguar, and the leopard], and Felinae [which includes the cougar, the cheetah, the lynxes, the ocelot, and the domestic cat].

The first felids emerged during the Oligocene, about 25 million years ago. In prehistoric times, a third subfamily, the Machairodontinae, included the ‘saber-toothed cats’, such as the well-known Smilodon. Other superficially cat-like mammals, such as the metatherian sabertooth Thylacosmilus or the Nimravidae are not included in Felidae despite superficial similarities.

Felids are the strictest carnivores of the 13 terrestrial families in the order Carnivora, although the three families of marine mammals comprising the superfamily Pinnipedia are as carnivorous as the felids. Felids are obligate carnivores – they must consume meat to survive – and are sometimes referred to as hypercarnivores because of the much higher proportion of protein they require in their diet, much more than most other mammals.

Evolution

The 41 known cat species in the world today are all descended from the same ancestor. Cats originated in Asia and spread across continents by crossing land bridges. Testing of mitochondrial and nuclear DNA revealed that the ancient cats evolved into eight main lineages that diverged in the course of at least 10 migrations [in both directions] from continent to continent via the Bering land bridge and the Isthmus of Panama, with the Panthera genus being the oldest and the Felis genus being the youngest. About 60% of the modern cat species are estimated to have developed within the last million years.

The Felidae’s closest relatives are thought to be the Asiatic linsangs [civets* see footnote at page bottom]. Together with the Viverridae, hyenas, mongooses, and Madagascar carnivores, they form the suborder Feliformia.

Most cat species share a genetic anomaly that prevents them from tasting sweetness.

Most cat species have a haploid number of 18 or 19. New World cats [those in Central and South America] have a haploid number of 18, possibly due to the combination of two smaller chromosomes into a larger one. Prior to this discovery, biologists had been largely unable to establish a family tree of cats from fossil records because the fossils of different cat species all look very much alike, differing primarily in size

Felidae
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Evolution of the Tiger

The tiger is an endangered species, and it is on the brink of extinction today. However, it is a prehistoric animal and has walked this earth for millions of years.

It has a long lineage of ancestors, and the tiger that is on the extinction list is a much-modified version. The earliest of the fossils found of tigers are as old as 2 million years ago. However, this timeline still does not confirm the age or the timeline of the animal. Lion, tigers, jaguars, and leopards are from the same genus. They all belong to the Panthera classification of animals. Tigers are very identical to the lions when it comes to a genetic match. Interbreeding between tigers and lions is possible, and this new species is named liger. However, this new species can only be produced in captivity. In natural circumstances, cohabitation between tigers and lions does not occur.

The tiger’s place of origin is uncertain. It could have been anywhere in South Asia. The place of origin could have been in India. The ancestors of the tigers were much bigger during the prehistoric times, but they have always been carnivores. They reduced in size as the size of the prey became smaller and smaller. However, as the size of the tiger changed, it became a better swimmer and also developed the capability to climb trees and run fast to hunt its prey.

Unfortunately, today there are less than 2000 tigers in the world. Once this species becomes extinct, there is no other species, which can represent it.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

* * * * * * * * *

The Tiger – William Blake. 1757–1827

Tiger, Tiger, burning bright
In the forests of the night,
What immortal hand or eye
Could frame thy fearful symmetry?

In what distant deeps or skies
Burnt the fire of thine eyes?
On what wings dare he aspire?
What the hand dare seize the fire?

And what shoulder and what art
Could twist the sinews of thy heart?
And when thy heart began to beat,
What dread hand and what dread feet?
What the hammer? what the chain?
In what furnace was thy brain?
What the anvil? What dread grasp
Dare its deadly terrors clasp?

When the stars threw down their spears,
And water’d heaven with their tears,
Did He smile His work to see?
Did He who made the lamb make thee?

Tiger, Tiger, burning bright
In the forests of the night,
What immortal hand or eye
Dare frame thy fearful symmetry?

* * * * * * * * *

Snigger Snigger – Dave Draper [Spoof – From POEMS 1970-2008]

Snigger Snigger Bellowing Bright
In Bad Breath and Scandal-Light
By Wart Immoral Gland d’ye Squat
Inflamed by Gleeful Sinner’s Plot?

In Whose Drysmal Drese Gor-Blys
Burst the Choir of Thine Thighs
In What Springs did Ye Perspire?
Blee Blot Bland for Blee for Blyre
And What Smoulder and What Fart
Could Burst the Sinjews of Thy Bart?
And When Thy Bart Began to Bleat
What Dring Could Stand and What Drang Meet?

What the Gamma? What the Gain?
In What Burn-Up Was Thy Brain?
Wart the Aardvil? Wot Dredd Glasp
Dare Its Dreasly Cherrows Thrasp?

And When the Stars Played their Guitars
And Watered Beers Were Downed by Jars
Did He Smile His Woik to See?
Did He Who Made You Pissed Make Thee?

Snigger Snigger Bellowing Bright
In Bad Breath and Scandal-Light
By Wart Immoral Gland D’ye Squat
Inflamed by Gleeful Sinner’s Plot?

* * * * * * * * *

The featured Tiger image in sepia on a sunburned tangerine background is located in the Art section of this website under the Category Wildlife.

According to my Catalogue of Photographed Images [the Index in my Specimen Display Album], I drew the featured image with lead [graphite] pencil on matte paper or card in 1982. In transition to my computer the sketch has taken on a sepia cast. I can’t recall deliberately engineering this so I most likely didn’t.

I cannot find the original artwork for this image, although I see there is a photographed copy of it in my Specimen Display Album which, thankfully, contains images of most of my artworks photographed by Graham Warren in the 1980s.

Dave Draper 2014

I have set a slideshow of 20 images depicting information on the felids [cat family] The slideshow contains images, maps and references on the key members of the cat family, it is listed as follows:

Tiger Sepia on Yellow
Tiger Brighter Image
Enhanced Brighter Image
Tiger With Oil Effect
Online Tiger Photo
Tiger at Ranthambore
Lion photo, eofdreams
Dertz.in game pic for Aslan lion
Lion Head, hdwallpaper
Universeofsymbolism lion
Amur leopard by Mark Hughes
This is a BBC leopard
Cute leopard hdwallsource
Eofdreams leopard
Hdw-inc. The Jaguar
Jaguaronloginwoods
Leopard coat pattern
Jaguar coat pattern
Distribution of Jaguars Map
Pale Tiger Oil Effect Image
Bengal Tiger in Mangalore
Bengal Tiger in Mangalore Park
Distribution of Bengal Tiger
White Tiger Cougar Mountain Zoo
Ocelot in the Trees [Leopardus Pardalis] [See Notes]
Margay in the Treetops [Leopardus wiedii] [See Notes]
Kodkod Oncifelis guigna [Leopardus guigna] [See Notes]
Leopardus range [Leopardus C. & S. American territories] [See Notes]
Andean Wild Cat [Leopardus jacobita] [See Notes]
Andean Mountain Ambush [Leopardus jacobita] [See Notes]
Picturesque Portrait View [Leopardus jacobita] [See Notes]
Andean Wild Cat in Greenery [Leopardus jacobita] [See Notes]

Dave Draper 2014

VNotes