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

[peter]

I know, Guate. It is strange that the 3 adult Sumatran tigresses in Dreamworld, all very healthy, are about 70 kg., whereas other tigresses of the same subspecies, also very healthy, seem to reach the weight of a large adult male Sumatran tiger. Of course one has to be wary with records, no matter what.

On the other hand. The amount of individual variation in Sumatran tigers is more outspoken than in other subspecies. Sumatran tigers are the only ones where males and females, skullsizewise, overlap. Some of the skulls of adult wild Sumatran tigresses I measured were shorter than an average Bali female, whereas others were only marginally shorter than an average male Sumatran male tiger. Some of the male skulls I measured, on the other hand, were hardly longer than an average female skull. 

This is why I concluded Sumatra could have (had) two distinct types (both sexes). I'm probably wrong, but this is what the skulls told me. Reply