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Who's king of the beasts? Historical and recent body weights of wild and captive Amur tigers, with comparisons to other subspecies
... (2010). Adult tiger weights were taken in the field from two radiocollared female tigers and one female tiger killed by local people, and compared with weight data from other subspecies, compiled by Slaght et al. (2005). The mean weight of Sundarbans female tigers was 76.7 kg (SDs2.89, ...
... This distinction was most notable for male tigers, which tend to be more variable than females (Mazák 2004). The female weights so far recorded suggest that Sundarbans tigers are the lightest throughout the range of the tiger, but occur at the same latitude as the largest subspecies, Panthera t. tigris (Slaght et al. 2005). Geographic variation in skull dimen- Table 2 Male and female tiger weights. ...
... Geographic variation in skull dimen- Table 2 Male and female tiger weights. All weights taken from Slaght et al. (2005), plus the Sundarbans weights from this study. ...
... The objectives of this study were to determine if skull morphometrics could distinguish Sundarbans tigers from other groups, and to investigate if the weight of Sundarbans tigers is significantly different from that recorded in the literature for other subspecies. This information will help assess the conservation value of the Sundarbans tiger, and builds on earlier investigations of geographic variation in tiger skull morphology and body size (Mazák 1981;Kitchener 1999;Mazák 2004;Slaght et al. 2005;Mazák and Groves 2006;Mazák 2008). ...
... Sundarbans tiger weights were compared to data from other subspecies, compiled by Slaght et al. (2005). Differences between subspecies and Sundarbans tigers was investigated using ANOVA and Tukey's HSD test. ...
... After combining the Sundarbans female weights with Slaght et al.'s (2005) data from other groups, one-way ANOVA analysis (p = 0.05) indicated a significant difference between groups (df = 7, F = 17.26, p = <0.001). A post-hoc Tukey's HSD test showed that Sundarbans females were significantly different in mean weight from P. t. tigris and P. t. altaica, as were P. t. amoyensis, P. t. corbetti, and P. t. sumatrae. ...
... where ∆W was the age specific weight gain in kg/day, 1,430 kcal/kg wet weight was the energetic value of cougar flesh (assumed to be the same as tigers; Golley et al. 1965), and e was 60% growth efficiency during the 56 day nursing period and 100% during the postweaning dependence period (Moen 1973). We started birth weight at 1,255 g (Oftedal & Gittleman 1989) and calculated age specific weight gain using Michaelis-Menton growth curves based on wild Amur tiger weights (Slaght et al. 2005). ...
... ). Weights were measured at time of capture and assumed constant throughout the year. For unknown tigers, we used values reported bySlaght et al. (2005) for wild adult Amur tiger males of 176.4 kg (n = 18; SE = 4.3) and wild adult females of 117.9 ...
... where t represents the daily time spent resting and W represents the weight of the tiger in kilograms when captured, which we assumed stayed constant (Kleiber, 1961). To apply our model to wild tigers, we used mean weight estimates from Slaght et al. (2005) for wild adult Amur tiger males (176.4 kg) and wild adult females (117.9 kg). ...
... where DW was the age-specific weight gain in kg/day, 1430 kcal/kg wet weight was the energetic value of cougar (Puma concolor) flesh (assumed to be the same as tigers; Golley et al., 1965), and e was 60% growth efficiency during the 56 day nursing period and 100% during the post-weaning dependence period (Moen, 1973). We calculated age-specific weight gain using Michaelis-Menton growth curves based on wild Amur tiger weights (Slaght et al., 2005). We estimated daily energy costs after weaning similarly to adults and added them to the maternal energetic requirements (Oftedal and Gittleman, 1989). ...
... ;Slaght et al., 2005). Meanwhile, two-year-old lions are nearly a year from independence and weigh from 58% (males) to 72% (females) of asymptotic body mass(Jones et al. (2009); Smuts et al. (1980)). ...
The saber-toothed cat Smilodon fatalis is known predominantly from “predator trap” deposits, which has made many aspects of its life history difficult to infer. Here, we describe an association of at least two subadult and one adult S. fatalis from Pleistocene coastal deposits in Ecuador. The assemblage likely derived from a catastrophic mass mortality event, and thereby provides insights into the behavior of the species. The presence of a P3 in the subadult dentaries suggests inheritance, a rare instance of familial relatedness in the fossil record. The siblings were at least two years old and were associated with an adult that was likely their mother, indicating prolonged parental care in S. fatalis. Comparison with the growth of pantherine cats suggests that S. fatalis had a unique growth strategy among big cats that combines a growth rate that is similar to a tiger and the extended growth period of a lion.
... A wide prey base of leopards would probably have been even more evident if we had examined feces collected during other seasons because Kerley and Borisenko (2007) indicated that leopards prey on frogs and fish in the spring and grasshoppers in the fall. Although the biomass of small prey items is low, they are more valuable in energetic terms for leopards than for tigers provided the leopard body size is approximately one-third that of the tiger (Sludsky, 1976;Slaght et al., 2005). ...
Amur tigers and Far Eastern leopards are sympatric in the Russian Far East. Different ecological characteristics, such as different resource use, may enable coexistence of these two large predators, as indicated in other tiger–leopard habitats in Asia. We examined the winter food habits of tigers and leopards in the sympatric range in Southwest Primorskii Krai, Russian Far East using feces collected during four winters (2000–01, 2001–02 2002–03, and 2004–05). Fecal samples were identified as either tiger or leopard by genetic analysis, and we examined 63 and 139 samples of tiger and leopard feces, respectively. We found that leopards preyed on 13 species and tigers on 8 species. Wild boar and sika deer were the most frequently consumed prey for tigers and leopards, respectively. Three ungulates (sika deer, roe deer, and wild boar) appeared to be the essential prey because they provided a large proportion of the relative biomass consumed by tigers (92%) and leopards (87%). Tigers showed a strong preference for wild boar (Jacobs index: +0.55), whereas leopards did not show such a strong preference for any particular ungulate species. Moreover, both species consumed mid-sized carnivores and small mammals, with leopards consuming a more diverse range of prey, including squirrels, rodents, birds, and clams, none of which were identified in the tiger feces. There was a significant difference in the composition of their prey, suggesting resource partitioning between the two predators; however, Pianka's niche overlap index was high (0.77) because both species heavily relied on the three ungulates. Our study suggests that the availability of three different ungulate species, the tigers’ preference for wild boar, and the diverse prey base of leopards contribute to the coexistence of tigers and leopards in this region.
... The greater the body mass relative to dogs, the more likely the relationship will involve predation, and the risk of mortality for dogs in interactions will increase. Abbreviations (and sources for adult body mass data) are: BBJ black-backed jackal ( Loveridge and Nel, 2004 ); DGO dingo ( Letnic et al., 2011 ); CTE coyote ( Kennedy-Stoskopf, 2003 ); WLF grey wolf ( Kennedy-Stoskopf, 2003 ); SPHA spotted hyena ( Ramsay, 2003 ); TGR tiger ( Slaght et al., 2005 ); PMA puma ( Wack, 2003 ); LPD leopard ( Wack, 2003 ); JAG jaguar ( Wack, 2003 ); LON lion ( Wack, 2003 ); STHA striped hyena ( Monchot and Mashkour, 2010 ). ...
This chapter discusses the predation of wild carnivores on dogs, considering the range of recorded carnivore species responsible for killing dogs around the world. It examines the potential dog-killing species to search for records of killing or consuming dogs. There were also findings of recorded dog killings by non-carnivorous species.
Outside of Rancho La Brea, southern California, United States, knowledge of the life history, ecology, and extinction of large, late Pleistocene carnivores in North America is frustrated by a scarcity of skeletal material and trustworthy radiocarbon dates. A complete Smilodon fatalis (sabertooth cat) cranium from southwestern Iowa, directly AMS radiocarbon dated to 11,685 ± 40 B.P. (13,605e13,455 cal B.P.), represents an important addition to the inventory of evidence for the taxon in the Midcontinent. Assessment of tooth eruption and wear combined with metric and nonmetric comparisons with coeval crania from Pit 61/67 at Rancho La Brea indicates the specimen belongs to a subadult male 2e3 years of age at death. Craniodental morphology falls within the range of variation in the Pit 61/67 males. Predicted live weight is 251 kg. One C 1 has an antemortem bend fracture, and the absence of use-wear on the proximal remnant suggests death ensued within days of the injury. The radiocarbon date centers the animal in the Bølling-Allerød Chronozone (14,640e12,845 cal B.P.). Whereas regional conditions were generally warmer and wetter during this period, southwestern Iowa was a cool, dry non-analog boreal grassland/ parkland that supported a diverse, large herbivore community, including Megalonyx jeffersonii (Jeffer-son's ground sloth), the taxon tentatively identified in this study as the focal prey. Bayesian modeling of 72 direct radiocarbon dates for the taxon suggests extinction of the late Quaternary Smilodon was a hemispheric and geologically synchronic phenomenon that occurred after 13,285 cal B.P. Subjects: vertebrate paleontology, paleoecology, paleozoology.
No other species attracts more international resources, public attention, and protracted controversies over its intraspecific taxonomy than the tiger (Panthera tigris) [1, 2]. Today, fewer than 4,000 free-ranging tigers survive, covering only 7% of their historical range, and debates persist over whether they comprise six, five, or two subspecies [3–6]. The lack of consensus over the number of tiger subspecies has partially hindered the global effort to recover the species from the brink of extinction, as both captive breeding and landscape intervention of wild populations increasingly require an explicit delineation of the conservation management units [7]. The recent coalescence to a late Pleistocene bottleneck (circa 110 kya) [5, 8, 9] poses challenges for detecting tiger subspecific morphological traits, suggesting that elucidating intraspecific evolution in the tiger requires analyses at the genomic scale. Here, we present whole-genome sequencing analyses from 32 voucher specimens that resolve six statistically robust monophyletic clades corresponding to extant subspecies, including the recently recognized Malayan tiger (P. tigris jacksoni). The intersubspecies gene flow is very low, corroborating the recognized phylogeographic units. We identified multiple genomic regions that are candidates for identifying the adaptive divergence of subspecies. The body-size-related gene ADH7 appears to have been strongly selected in the Sumatran tiger, perhaps in association with adaptation to the tropical Sunda Islands. The identified genomic signatures provide a solid basis for recognizing appropriate conservation management units in the tiger and can benefit global conservation strategic planning for this charismatic megafauna icon.
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