A 10-year study looked at DNA similarities of tigers -- living and
extinct -- in order to better understand these animals as well as
provide a new, more powerful tool for wildlife protection.
study, which is published online in the Journal of Heredity and
will appear in the print edition May 1, 2015 describes DNA signatures
for 145 individual tigers, including "voucher specimens" of tigers from
verified geographic origins including Eurasian museum specimens that
represented extinct subspecies
Tigers -- they are some of nature's most beautiful, deadly and
endangered species. In fact, living tigers are severely endangered in
fragmented geographic areas across Asia -- some reports show their
numbers as low as 3,000 wild individuals. While there are efforts to
help protect these magnificent creatures, more was needed in terms of
research into the genetics of tigers.
The study's first results appeared in 2004 that showed Malayan tigers
splitting from its Indochinese counterpart as a distinct, new
fifth-living tiger subspecies. The latest results show that extinct
Javan (1980s) and Bali (1940s) tigers were nearly indistinguishable from
a molecular standpoint from Sumatran tigers just as the extinct Caspian
tigers are nearly identical to surviving Amur tiger subspecies.
Source: Science Daily
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