The genetic “tree” of tigers of continental Asia was compiled by a team of scientists

For the first time, the evolutionary history of ancient tigers has been
fully studied – an international team of scientists has traced the genetic
history of the origin of these large predators in continental Asia. They
examined the DNA code of more than 60 modern and fossil specimens
and officially confirmed the existence of nine modern subspecies. The
results of their work are published in the journal Nature Ecology & Evolution.

Tigers (Panthera tigris) belong to the genus of panthers and are the
largest representatives of wild cats. Several subspecies are known
among the living predators – Amur, Bengali, Indochinese, Malay, South
Chinese and Sumatran. The extinct subspecies include Balinese,
Javanese and Caspian.

The researchers studied DNA sequences from ancient samples aged 100-
10 thousand years ago collected in the Russian Far East, as well as in
China, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. These data on predators have
become the basis of a genetic tree that will help scientists better
understand the evolution of tigers.

Genetic analysis of fossil samples has shown, for example, that the
Amur tiger descended from an extinct Late Pleistocene lineage. The Far Eastern tigers separated from the “root” earlier than others, and
subsequently their evolutionary line developed independently.

But the study of South Chinese tigers showed that areas of southwestern
China served as a refuge for relict lines of striped predator. At the same
time, eastern China was a kind of genetic “melting pot” in which various
lines were mixed and it was they who expanded the habitat after the
return of suitable conditions.

As for the extinct Caspian tigers, the study of DNA samples showed that
they almost do not differ from the Amur tiger, and craniometric analysis
confirmed a significant coincidence between the Caspian and other
continental subspecies of predators. Scientists also have another version
of the origin of this subspecies – it can originate from the population of
Northeast Asia, and the other part of the genes could be obtained from
South Bengal tigers. But the authors of the scientific project still have
many questions about the “pedigree” of the Caspian tiger, whose genetic
line has not yet been traced to the end. Research continues.

ORIENT news

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