Caspian tiger

Caspian tiger
Tiger from the Caucasus in Berlin Zoological Garden, 1899[1]
Tiger from the Caucasus in Berlin Zoological Garden, 1899[1]
Extinct (1970)
Scientific classificationEdit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Carnivora
Suborder: Feliformia
Family: Felidae
Subfamily: Pantherinae
Genus: Panthera
Species: P. tigris
Subspecies: P. t. tigris
Population: †Caspian tiger
Historical distribution
Historical distribution

The Caspian tiger was a Panthera tigris tigris population native to eastern Turkey, northern Iran, Mesopotamia, the Caucasus around the Caspian Sea, Central Asia to northern Afghanistan and the Xinjiang region in western China.[2] Until the Middle Ages, it was also present in southern Russia.[3] It inhabited sparse forests and riverine corridors in this region until the 1970s.[1] This population was regarded as a distinct subspecies and assessed as extinct in 2003.[4]

Results of a phylogeographic analysis evinces that the Caspian and Siberian tiger populations shared a common continuous geographic distribution until the early 19th century.[5]

Some Caspian tigers were intermediate in size between Siberian and Bengal tigers.[3][6][7]

It was also called Balkhash tiger, Hyrcanian tiger, Turanian tiger,[4] and Mazandaran tiger.[8]

  1. ^ a b Nowell, K. & Jackson, P. (1996). "Tiger, Panthera tigris (Linnaeus, 1758)" (PDF). Wild Cats: status survey and conservation action plan. Gland, Switzerland: IUCN/SSC Cat Specialist Group. pp. 55–65.
  2. ^ Kitchener, A. C.; Breitenmoser-Würsten, C.; Eizirik, E.; Gentry, A.; Werdelin, L.; Wilting, A.; Yamaguchi, N.; Abramov, A. V.; Christiansen, P.; Driscoll, C.; Duckworth, J. W.; Johnson, W.; Luo, S.-J.; Meijaard, E.; O'Donoghue, P.; Sanderson, J.; Seymour, K.; Bruford, M.; Groves, C.; Hoffmann, M.; Nowell, K.; Timmons, Z. & Tobe, S. (2017). "A revised taxonomy of the Felidae: The final report of the Cat Classification Task Force of the IUCN Cat Specialist Group" (PDF). Cat News (Special Issue 11): 66–68.
  3. ^ a b Heptner, V. G. & Sludskij, A. A. (1992) [1972]. "Tiger". Mlekopitajuščie Sovetskogo Soiuza. Moskva: Vysšaia Škola [Mammals of the Soviet Union. Volume II, Part 2. Carnivora (Hyaenas and Cats)]. Washington DC: Smithsonian Institution and the National Science Foundation. pp. 95–202.
  4. ^ a b Jackson, P. & Nowell, K. (2011). "Panthera tigris ssp. virgata". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2011: e.T41505A10480967.
  5. ^ Driscoll, C. A.; Yamaguchi, N.; Bar-Gal, G. K.; Roca, A. L.; Luo, S.; Macdonald, D. W. & O'Brien, S. J. (2009). "Mitochondrial Phylogeography Illuminates the Origin of the Extinct Caspian Tiger and Its Relationship to the Amur Tiger". PLOS ONE. 4 (1): e4125. Bibcode:2009PLoSO...4.4125D. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0004125. PMC 2624500. PMID 19142238.
  6. ^ Mazák, V. (1981). "Panthera tigris". Mammalian Species (152): 1–8. doi:10.2307/3504004. JSTOR 3504004.
  7. ^ Firouz, E. (2005). "Tiger". The complete fauna of Iran. London, New York: I. B. Tauris. pp. 66–67. ISBN 978-1-85043-946-2.
  8. ^ Humphreys, P. & Kahrom, E. (1999). "Caspian tiger". Lion and Gazelle: The Mammals and Birds of Iran. Avon: Images Publishing. pp. 75–77. ISBN 9781860642296.