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.
Morphological differences and similarities no longer distinguish or approximate one species from another. See the recent classification of Giraffes into 4 species. In the past, reproductive incompatibility was the most unambiguous concept that there really is differentiation at the species level. Morphologically different species, with different shapes and appearance, can appear bewildering relationships. Genetic science is there to recognize or not to recognize, in a profound way, the level of kinship.
Even if geneticists are vulnerable to different ideologies and pragmatisms, there is certainly always a complementarity when the focus is differentiation and/or genetic similarity, in the face of analysis of different sources/materials. Nothing should be seen separately, genetics together with techniques of anatomy, physiology, reproductive biology, etc., are useful to understand the limits of each species and identify the possible mechanisms of differentiation. "No single method accurately solves all problems."
Genetic science progressed and reduced concepts linked to morphological subjectivity. For tigers, conserving them in the wild is an unprecedented challenge. For some, better uniting than separating. There are more than 100,000 tigers in captivity around the world, “genetically mixed”, with no conservation value until then. By attributing differentiation only between island tigers and mainland tigers a broad focus for conservation opened up. However, Malayan or Indochinese tiger projects may lose conceptual and financial relevance in terms of local conservation, so they say, as there is no longer any reason to keep them at subspecies level. “Investing in projects that do not present a tangible and real future for the species to continue evolving”. The fact is that to have or not an animal in your borders, it will be necessary much more involvement than geneticists, zoologists and biologists can propose.
There is certainly the contrary thinking, but I see no point or use in debating whether or not the Caspian tiger has enough morphological differences to remove its current classification.
Caspian tigers from Azerbaijan
