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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: 02-03-2019, 03:40 PM by peter )

(01-31-2019, 03:20 AM)tigerluver Wrote: A new study detailing some museum specimens was recently published. Here is the download link (if direct attachments work later I'll replace it with such).

Here's the Javan tiger they described:

*This image is copyright of its original author


They also described a very large 370 mm skull that was genetically attributed to P. t. jacksoni. They do note that the museum records have the tiger as being from India and conclude that either there is a temporal discrepancy between what was described as India then and now or tigers with the defining P. t. jacksoni gene were still able to intermix in India at the time. Here's the skull's measurements:


*This image is copyright of its original author

ON SKULL UN 2484

Thanks for the link, Tigerluver. The article was printed and the two skull measurements will be used. 

This post has a bit more on skull UN 2484. In order to prevent readers from scrolling, I decided to link this post to yours.

a - Skull UN 2484

The DNA samples taken from skull UN 2484, collected in 1900, suggest it belonged to a Malayan tiger. The original label, however, says 'India'. The question, therefore, is how to find the truth.   

Heino, Granroth, Aspi and Pihlstrom offer two explanations:

a1 - The one who wrote the label had a different idea about 'India'.
a2 - The skull could represent a genetic lineage that has disappeared in the last century, when tigers were nearly hunted to extinction in southeast Asia.

There could be another explanation. 

b - The link between the DNA samples and the label

Skull UN 2484 was collected in 1900. It's, therefore, more than likely that the owner of the skull was shot well before 1900. The skull, most probably, was bought from a dealer. He said the skull was from 'India'. Although the DNA samples strongly suggest the skull belonged to a Malayan tiger, the label could be correct. Let's assume it was.

In 1900, the map of southeast Asia was quite different from today. Here's a map from 1893:


*This image is copyright of its original author


In 1893, the British Empire extended all the way to what now is Malaysia. Was the southern tip of Malaysia included? The map below (see no. 13) says it was. This means the label could have been correct:


*This image is copyright of its original author


c - Size of tigers in Malaysia

The next question is if tigers in that part of Asia were small or large in the previous century. There is reliable information about the size of tigers in Malaysia. We'll start with Locke.

The 11 male tigers shot by Lt.-Col. A. Locke ('The tigers of Terengganu', 1954, pp. 9-13) between 1949 and 1951 in the southeastern part of Malaysia averaged 8.7 (261,62 cm.). The longest he shot was 8.11 (271,78 cm.), but the end of the tail of that male was missing. Had the tail been intact, the tiger would have measured 9.4 (284,48 cm.).  

His average compared to the average of male tigers shot in Johore by the Sultan (of Johore) between 1898 and 1927. The males shot by the Sultan averaged nearly 8.6 (259,08 cm.). 

There's more good info about the average size of male tigers in the southern tip of Malaysia. What I found supports the conclusions of Locke on the average size of male tigers shot in southern (Johore) and southeastern (Terengganu) Malaysia 70-120 years ago. Measured in a straight line ('between pegs'), male tigers averaged 255-265 cm. in total length.    

d - Large male tigers shot in the northern part of Malaysia

A century ago, there were much more tigers than today. Furthermore, they could move from one region to another (young adult male tigers in particular are great walkers). For these reasons, individual variation was more pronounced. Any evidence of large male tigers shot in Malaysia a century ago? 

E.G. Burgess ('Early Days in Malaya', JBNHS, Vol. XXXVIII) first visited Malaysia in 1900. For the first ten years, he " ... lived in the heart of the jungle, engaged at first in surveys and construction works, and later on in opening up large areas of land for rubber cultivation ... " (pp. 241).

In India, his experience was limited to the Nilgiri Hills of the Madras province. He did " ... a fair amount of shooting, but was not bitten with the lust to kill, and ... did not shoot with the idea of obtaining records ... " (pp. 242).

In his first district in Malaysia (Perak), he shot 13 tigers. The only person who shot more tigers was the Sultan of Johore. As to the size of tigers he shot:

" ... The general opinion among sportsmen in India is that the Malayan tiger is a smaller animal than his Indian cousin, but I am convinced this is not the case. I can vouch to shooting one which measured 9 ft. 8 in. between pegs, and although this was exceptional, one other measured 9 ft. 3 in. and another 9 ft. 0 in. All that I got were well conditioned and massive beasts, and of the forty or fifty trophies I have seen in India, and the half dozen or so I have seen killed on the Nilgiris, not one has compared with my big one, and all were much of an average with the full grown tiger of Malaya.

I may mention that all my big tigers ... were shot in the one district in Perak. Of those I shot in Johore and Negri Sembilan none measured more than 8 ft. 8 in. ... " (pp. 243).

A man-eater also shot in Perak was 9.4 (284,48 cm.) in total length 'between pegs'.   
     
e - Large male tigers shot in the southern part of Malaysia

Apart from Terengganu (Locke), there is information on the size of tigers shot in Johore (southern tip of Malaysia). Here's an interview with the Sultan of Johore ('The Wide World Magazine', Vol. IX, July 1902):


*This image is copyright of its original author


*This image is copyright of its original author


*This image is copyright of its original author

*This image is copyright of its original author


*This image is copyright of its original author
 

About 100-120 years ago, male tigers measured in a straight line averaged nearly 8.6, but some shot by the Sultan of Johore well exceeded 9 feet. The longest shot was 9.8 (294,64 cm.). 

Although the average greatest total skull length of males didn't exceed 13 inches (330,20 mm.), one skull was 365,00 mm. It still tops the table. That skull was from a male shot in Johore.

Based on what I have, my guess is that tigers in northern Malaysia (Perak), the northern part of Burma (now Myanmar) and Annam (central part of Vietnam) were larger than those in Johore. The largest tiger shot by Baze in Vietnam was 338 cm. in total length, most probably measured 'over curves' (tail length 118 cm.), and weighed 260 kg. (575 pounds). I have several other records of male tigers shot in Vietnam well exceeding 10.0 (304,80 cm.) in total length measured 'over curves'. Most of them were shot just before and after World War Two in what was then French Indochina.

Most unfortunately, the number of skulls of P.t. corbetti in natural history museums in Europe is limited. I never heard of a large skull of an Indochinese tiger in a European natural history museum, but it's very likely that skulls of large males well exceeded 15 inches (381,00 mm.) in greatest total length. 

f - Skull UN 2484

Is it possible that the owner of skull UN 2484 was from 'India', as the label said? Yes. The southern part of Malaysia was part of the British Empire when the tiger was shot.

Are there reliable records of male tigers shot in southern Malaysia exceeding 9.0 (274,32 cm.) in total length 'between pegs'? Yes. All of them were shot before the outbreak of World War Two. According to one hunter, male tigers shot in Perak (northern part of Malaysia) compared to male tigers shot in southern India in all respects. He wrote they were 'massive and well conditioned beasts'. The photographs in the article posted show that some of the males shot by the Sultan of Johore had quite large skulls.    

Can skulls of large male tigers shot in Johore exceed 14 inches (355,60 mm.) in greatest total length? Yes. At least one was 365 mm. Skull UN 2484, at 370,00 mm., could be another.

Male tigers shot in Terengganu and Johore after World War Two only very seldom exceeded 8.8 (264,16 cm.) in total length measured 'between pegs'. The only exception was the 8.11 male shot by Locke (see above).
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Messages In This Thread
RE: ON THE EDGE OF EXTINCTION - A - THE TIGER (Panthera tigris) - peter - 01-31-2019, 08:39 PM
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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