There is a world somewhere between reality and fiction. Although ignored by many, it is very real and so are those living in it. This forum is about the natural world. Here, wild animals will be heard and respected. The forum offers a glimpse into an unknown world as well as a room with a view on the present and the future. Anyone able to speak on behalf of those living in the emerald forest and the deep blue sea is invited to join.
07-04-2015, 11:14 AM( This post was last modified: 07-04-2015, 11:14 AM by tigerluver )
The sequence(s) being tested also matters. For example, Xue et al. (2015) couldn't subspeciate P.t. jacksoni based on certain types of genes, but was able to on others. Kitchener has limited himself to certain genes only, and this could cause some error. Also, the citation for my last post was supposed ot be Xue et al. (2015) and the number of forms is 9.
Clinal variation is dangerous to conservation in my opinion. There are at least distinct ecotypes between the Bengal, Southeast Asian, and Amur forms just based on the body characteristics (which are coded by genes). Drop off an Amur tiger population in southeast Asia and you likely won't be able to replicate the Southeast Asian tiger form within enough evolutionary time. In that manner, I feel these ecotypes are unique, even if they at this point are man-made.