Vintage

[peter]

(11-26-2014, 11:25 AM)'Apollo' Wrote: Tiger hunted in 1870 at  Penang (Sumatra, Indonesia)

*This image is copyright of its original author

 

I posted this photograph in the extinction thread in AVA. Initially, I thought the tiger was shot in Sumatra (some of the old Dutch officials used the word Penang when they referred to Sumatra). Later, after a poster told me it probably was Malaysia, I compared the people in the photograph with those in Sumatra. Same for the tiger. I now think the tiger was shot in the southern part of Malaysia, which means he belonged to Panthera tigris corbetti.

There wasn't much difference in size between P.t. corbetti and P.t. sumatrae. The information I have on today's tigers suggests both still are very close in length and weight. P.t. sumatrae, in fact, might even be a trifle larger.

Sumatran tigers, compared to south-east Asian tigers, usually have more stripes and they also are narrower and closer together. The ground colour often is very dark. Furthermore, males tend to have larger heads for their size. They often appear to be a bit more robust and stocky than similar-sized mainland tigers. While I do not agree with his assessment regarding taxonomy (he proposed Panthera sumatrae for Panthera tigris sumatrae), I agree with J.H. Mazak in that they are a slightly different breed. Older, perhaps. Reply