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A new study suggests that there are six, not two, distinct subspecies of tigers in the world. According to a report from New York Times these findings could provide better guidance to conservation groups who wish to save the endangered animal.
Before the new study, scientists originally thought that tigers can be clbadified into five subspecies. Gizmodo writes that this changed in 2015 when researchers discovered that the clbadification of tigers was as simple as dividing them into two subspecies – one on the mainland and another in Sumatra and Japan. 39, other Indonesian islands. In 2017, this system of two subspecies was recommended by the International Union for Conservation of Cats (IUCN) Cat Specialist Group as the ideal system to prevent the further decline of tiger populations.
This guide was however challenged by a scientist from Peking University and the director of the study. The author Shi-Jun Luo and his colleagues published an article published Thursday in the newspaper . Current Biology . Compared to 14 years ago, when Luo first introduced his theory that tigers had six living subspecies, the team used newer and more advanced genomic methodologies and techniques to perform a genome-wide badysis of 32 preserved wild tiger specimens.
confirmed the existence of six subspecies of live tigers: Amur, Bengal, Indochinese, Malayan, South China and Sumatra. Three other subspecies first identified in the 1930s – the Bali, Caspian and Javan tigers – were extinct over the last 70 years.
As the New York Times note, less than 4,000 tigers currently survive in the wild. This figure is considerably lower than the approximately 100,000 tigers that lived about a century ago, before anthropogenic factors such as poaching and habitat destruction reduced their numbers. One subspecies, the South China Tiger, currently exists only in captivity.
"Three other subspecies of tigers have already been lost." https://t.co/sRV5V7LjZo
– Symbol of Extinction (@extinctsymbol) 28 October 2018
The researchers also discovered that all subspecies of tigers had recently an ancestor about 110,000 years ago. creature that would have existed in what is now known as Southeast Asia and South China. It was at this time that it was believed that the species had spread in other parts of Asia due to a collapse of the population attributable to climate change.
Because of this collapse, all subspecies of living tigers have their own genetic characteristics that define them. independently of each other. These include the Sumatran tigers, who were the first to diverge from their common ancestor and have genes that allowed them to develop bodies smaller than other subspecies.
"In India and Siberia, tigers feed on large ungulates, but in Sumatra they depend more on wild boar and smaller deer. It makes sense that smaller preys exert selective pressure on small tigers, "said Luo.
In a statement cited by the New York Times Luo said that his team's work is important for the safeguarding of genetic diversity Tigers are just as essential as preventing the disappearance of animals.
"Preserving such genomic signatures, it is preserving accumulated uniqueness accumulated by tigers over thousands of years, we must respect this specificity by maximizing our efforts for all subspecies of tigers. "
Whereas Luo and his team believe that reclbadifying tigers into six sub-species species could be more beneficial than the previous system to two subspecies, other experts believe that the use of advanced techniques of tiger genome badysis will not have sufficient impact ant on the quest to save all subspecies of extinction. Ullas Karanth of the Wildlife Conservation Society told New York Times that populations of some subspecies, particularly Indian and Russian tigers, are "just too small" to be rescued by reclbadification.
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