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

peter Offline
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( This post was last modified: 05-29-2016, 11:59 AM by peter )

(07-31-2015, 10:39 AM)GrizzlyClaws Wrote: Some tiger mandible, can you identify its subspecies? @peter


*This image is copyright of its original author



*This image is copyright of its original author



*This image is copyright of its original author

Grizzly

When I read the thread recently, I noticed this post. I never responded to it, because the focus in the period you posted the photographs was on the series on tigers in northern India and Nepal. These posts took a lot of time. When I was done, I took a break and forgot about the question. Sorry about that. 


a - The question

I'm afraid there's not much to go on. The reason is the unusual angles of the photographs. One also would have preferred a location.

Here's what I see. One is the mandibula isn't concave or convex, but straight. Two is the tip (near the teeth) isn't lifted. This is typical for tigers. In wild lions, the mandibula is slightly convex in the centre and clearly lifted at the tip.


b - Differences between skulls of captive and wild big cats

Skulls of captive big cats often are different from skulls of wild big cats. Skulls of wild tigers very often have straightish or concave mandibulas, but I saw a number of skulls of captive tigers with both a convex mandibula and a lifted tip. I also saw skulls of captive lions with a slightly concave manibula and a straight tip. Most of these atypical skulls belonged to females. 

Not a few skulls of captive big cats are deformed. When I say 'deformed', I mean they are asymmetrical, relatively very wide, and 'underteethed' (referring to the canines in particular). They also often have superfluous growths. Skulls of adult captive big cats usually are shorter, not as elevated at the orbit and not as dense and heavy as skulls of their wild relatives.


c - Differences between tiger subspecies

The photographs you posted show a very smooth mandibula, meaning it most probably belonged to a wild tiger. If we include size, we get to male. When the length of the lower canines is added, I would get to adult.

As for subspecies. In most tiger subspecies, the mandibula is either straight or concave. The tip of the mandibula also is never 'lifted'. In two subspecies, however, I noticed a few things seen in most skulls of wild male lions. In some mandibulas of wild male Sumatran tigers, I saw a slight downward depression halfway. This resulted in a slightly convex shape. The upper skull in some wild male Sumatran tigers also was a bit less 'tigerlike' in that the facial part was a bit longer than in other tiger subspecies. Furthermore, the profile of the upper skull often was flatter. If you would conclude skulls of wild male Sumatran skulls are more 'lionlike' than skulls of wild males of other tiger subspecies, I wouldn't object.

Skulls of captive male Amur tigers also are a bit different from other tiger subspecies in that the upper skull often is a bit less vaulted as well as straighter (and more elevated between the eyes and the rostrum). They also often have straight and relatively long mandibulas. 
 
The most 'tigerlike' skulls are from Java and India. Males in particular often have very vaulted upper skulls and concave mandibulas. The upper skulls of wild male Java tigers often compare to old Greek helmets. Skulls from India and Java also compare in other respects. The shape, length and robustness of the upper canines is very similar. Male Amur tigers have the longest upper canines in absolutes but if we would divide the length of the upper canines by the condylobasal length, Sumatrans would top the list.

Although the upper canines of Amur tigers are massive, especially at the insertion, the upper canines in many skulls of wild male Javan and, especially, Indian tigers are very close. They also seem to be a bit more curved.  


d - Conclusion

For now, I'd say the mandibula above could have to belonged to an adult wild male Amur tiger (Panthera tigris altaica). Judging from the shape of the lower canines, I'd change 'adult' in 'oldish'. Although Amur tigers were widely distributed not so long ago (about two centuries only), I would go for northern or northeastern China or southeastern Russia. China seems more likely because of the size (Manchurian tigers often were a bit larger than Russian and Korean tigers).

As to subspecies. Two centuries ago, China had P.t. tigris; P.t. corbetti; P.t. virgata; P.t. amoyensis and P.t. altaica. I think we can skip the first three. That leaves P.t. amoyensis and P.t. altaica. Panthera tigris amoyensis ranged from the region southwest of Amoy to central parts of China, whereas the southern part of Manchuria belonged to Panthera tigris altaica. But what about the other regions in northern China?

I remember a reliable report about a wild male tiger shot in the sixties of the last century. This male was quite a bit larger than an average representative of P.t. amoyensis and about similar in size to an average adult male of Panthera tigris altaica. Based on the location where he was shot, he wasn't P.t. altaica. As we can also exclude P.t. virgata and P.t. amoyensis, the question is who he was. My guess is tigers in northern China were different from both P.t. amoyensis and P. t. altaica. Not saying P.t. styani should be re-instated, but there are a lot of questions.    


e - Skull 133

This skull belonged to an old male Amur tiger who was shot in a Belgium zoo. Greatest total length: 368,80 mm. - condylobasal length: 327,78 mm. - zygomatic width: 243,52 mm. - rostrum: 105,55 mm. - upper canines: 71,9 and 70,8 mm - weight: 2,120 kg. - elevation at the orbit: 171,90 mm. 

Before I saw it, I had measured and photographed a number of skulls of captive male Indian tigers (P. tigris tigris). These tigers were classified as 'true' Indian tigers. Although skull 133 had a longer face, longer canines and a wider rostrum, the Indian skulls were (relatively) more elevated at the orbit, wider and generally more massive. 
   
As you can see, skull 133 is a platform for the big guns. This is typical for many skulls of captive Amur tigers. The mandibula of this male, however, also was atypical in that it had a downward depression halfway and an elevated tip (most skulls of captive Amur tigers have straight or slightly concave mandibulas). Remember skulls of captive big cats seldom are representative:
 

*This image is copyright of its original author



*This image is copyright of its original author



f - The 'Chanwangshai skull'

This is a photograph of the largest skull of a wild male Amur tiger (from V. Mazak, 'Der Tiger', 1983) for comparison. At 16 inches in greatest total length, this skull was well over an inch longer than skull 133. It also was a lot wider, more elevated at the orbit and generally more robust. 

Compare to skull 133 and find the differences :


*This image is copyright of its original author
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Messages In This Thread
RE: ON THE EDGE OF EXTINCTION - A - TIGERS (Panthera tigris) - peter - 05-29-2016, 10:21 AM
Demythologizing T16 - tigerluver - 04-12-2020, 11:44 AM
Tiger Data Bank - Apollo - 07-28-2014, 09:54 PM
RE: Tiger Data Bank - Apollo - 07-28-2014, 10:02 PM
RE: Tiger Data Bank - Apollo - 07-29-2014, 12:56 AM
RE: Tiger Data Bank - peter - 07-29-2014, 07:05 AM
Tiger recycling bin - Roflcopters - 09-04-2014, 01:36 AM
RE: Tiger recycling bin - Pckts - 09-04-2014, 02:22 AM
RE: Tiger recycling bin - Roflcopters - 09-05-2014, 01:01 AM
RE: Tiger Data Bank - Apollo - 11-15-2014, 10:07 PM
RE: Tiger Data Bank - Apollo - 11-15-2014, 10:57 PM
RE: Tiger Data Bank - Apollo - 11-15-2014, 11:33 PM
RE: Tiger Data Bank - Apollo - 02-19-2015, 11:25 PM
RE: Tiger Data Bank - GuateGojira - 02-23-2015, 11:36 AM
Status of tigers in India - Shardul - 12-20-2015, 03:23 PM
RE: Tiger Directory - Diamir2 - 10-03-2016, 04:27 AM
RE: Tiger Directory - peter - 10-03-2016, 06:22 AM
Genetics of all tiger subspecies - parvez - 07-15-2017, 01:08 PM
RE: Tiger Predation - peter - 11-11-2017, 08:08 AM
RE: Man-eaters - Wolverine - 12-03-2017, 11:30 AM
RE: Man-eaters - peter - 12-04-2017, 09:44 AM
RE: Tigers of Central India - Wolverine - 04-13-2018, 01:17 AM
RE: Tigers of Central India - qstxyz - 04-13-2018, 08:34 PM
RE: Size comparisons - peter - 07-16-2019, 05:28 AM
RE: Amur Tigers - peter - 05-20-2021, 07:13 AM
RE: Amur Tigers - Nyers - 05-21-2021, 08:02 PM
RE: Amur Tigers - peter - 05-22-2021, 08:09 AM
RE: Amur Tigers - GuateGojira - 04-06-2022, 12:59 AM
RE: Amur Tigers - tigerluver - 04-06-2022, 01:08 AM
RE: Amur Tigers - tigerluver - 04-06-2022, 09:08 AM
RE: Amur Tigers - tigerluver - 04-06-2022, 11:30 PM
RE: Amur Tigers - peter - 04-08-2022, 07:27 AM



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