ON THE EDGE OF EXTINCTION - A - THE TIGER (Panthera tigris)

[peter]

The best source on length, weight and skulls of big cats in general (at the level of species or subspecies) is V. Mazak (1983). The information I have, however, suggests he was a bit conservative (meaning the range is a bit wider than he suggests). This, no doubt, was a result of the mistake he made when he started (referring to him quoting Barclay and Baikov). After he admitted he had been misled, he decided for his own measurements only (skulls mostly). He could have been a bit preferenced when he selected measurements taken 'between pegs' (meaning he included some and not others for unknown reasons) and it also is a fact he didn't distinguish between wild and captive (regarding Amur tigers in particular), but Mazak, in spite of that, is the one closest to what I found.

Another way to get to a reliable result is to read everything you can and select measurements taken 'between pegs'. There are many, many books, meaning it would take a lot of time. The advantage is the table you will produce will be based on primary sources only. Another advantage is a wider range and the possibility to distinguish between age groups.

My proposal is to use V. Mazak's information for a general description on size for now. When you have collected enough data from books and articles, you have a new database. This is the one you should use to get to a table yourself. Reply