A golden tiger, sometimes called a golden tabby tiger, is a Bengal tiger with a colour variation caused by a recessive gene. Like white tigers and black tigers, it is a morph, and not a separate subspecies. Known for its blonde or pale-golden color and red-brown (not black) stripes, the golden tiger colouring comes from a recessive trait referred to as "wideband" which affects the production of black during the hair growth cycle.[1] Tiger colorations that vary from the typical orange-with-black-stripe do occur in nature, but in a very small percentage.[2]
- ^ Xu, X.; Dong, G. X.; Schmidt-Küntzel, A.; Zhang, X. L.; Zhuang, Y.; Fang, R.; Sun, X.; Hu, X.S.; Zhang, T. Y.; Yang, H. D.; Zhang, D. L.; Marker, L.; Jiang, Z.-F.; Li, R.; Luo, S.-J. (2017). "The genetics of tiger pelage color variations" (PDF). Cell Research. 27 (7): 954–957. doi:10.1038/cr.2017.32. PMC 5518981. PMID 28281538.
- ^ L. A. K. Singh (2000). "Colour aberration in tiger: its biological and conservation implications. Summary of Talk at National Seminar "Tiger Tiger", 4–5 August 2000, Indian Museum, Calcutta". Academia.edu.