Evolution Of Tigers
"Panthera Tigris"
Characteristics
Environment
Natural Selection
Sexual Selection
Ancestors
Divergent Evolution
Bengal Tiger
Genetic Drift
- Live in South Asia
- Grasslands and savannas
- Light colored
- Short fur
Artificial Selection
Convergent Evolution
- Female leaves scent trail
- Attracts male
- Courting rituals
1. More Stripes
- More stripes to better blend in when stalking prey
- Stripe patten
- Large padded paws
- Claws
- Whiskers
- Large, sharp teeth
- Long Tail
- Long hind legs
- Tropical Rainforests
- Evergreen Forests
- Tall Grasslands
- Mangrove Swamps
- Savannas
- Temperate Forests
- Snow
- occurred through bottle neck effect
- poaching lowered population
Tigers selected in favor of must of had:
- More stripes
- Longer claws and hind legs
- More flexible spine
- Longer tails
- Zebra's and Tigers developed stripes
- different pressures led to same result
- White tigers
- haven't been seen in the wild since the 1950's
- some live in captivity
2. Longer Claws and Hind Legs
- Longer claws can dig further into prey
- Longer hind legs allows for more jumping distance
Miacids
Locations
- Lived 50 million years ago
- 15 million years after the mass extinction of dinosaurs
- Carnivorous
Pseudaelurus
- Lived 23.5 million years ago
- very similar to Proailurus
- slightly larger
- had 8 more teeth than cats today
3. More Flexible Spine
- Flexibility in spine allows for faster running
- more efficient hunting
4. Longer Tails
- Balance
- Momentum
- Communication
Subspecies
Flehmen Reaction
Courting Ritual
- male roars and moans
- if female responds, mating takes place
- do a dance of smelling, purring and rubbing
South China Tiger
- Live in South China
- Evergreen Forests
- Dark colored coat
- Short fur
Proailurus
- First known cat
- lived about 36.5 million years ago
- small
- weighed twenty pounds
- short legs, long body
- retractable claws