Biology:Ngandong tiger
| Panthera tigris soloensis | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Carnivora |
| Suborder: | Feliformia |
| Family: | Felidae |
| Subfamily: | Pantherinae |
| Genus: | Panthera |
| Species: | |
| Subspecies: | †P. t. soloensis
|
| Trinomial name | |
| Panthera tigris soloensis Koenigswald, 1933
| |
The Ngandong tiger (Panthera tigris soloensis) is an extinct tiger subspecies, which occurred in the Sundaland region of Indonesia during the Pleistocene epoch.[1]
Discoveries
Fossils of P. t. soloensis have been found primarily in the village of Ngandong, hence the common name. Only seven fossils are known, making study of the animal difficult.[2]
Description
The few remains of the Ngandong tiger suggest that it would have been about the size of a modern Bengal tiger. However, other specimens suggest that it was larger than any modern tiger. Heltler and Volmer (2007) estimated that a large male could have weighed up to 470 kg (1,040 lb), in which case, it would have been heavier than the largest extant tiger subspecies,[2][3][4] and similar to Smilodon populator.[5]
Paleoecology
In addition to the remains of P. t. soloensis, many other fossils from the same era have been discovered in Ngandong, like the proboscideans Stegodon trigonocephalus and Elephas hysudrindicus, the bovines Bubalus palaeokerabau and Bos paleosondaicus, the extant perissodactyls Tapirus indicus and Rhinoceros sondaicus, and a great variety of cervine species. Homo erectus fossils are also known from the area.[6]
See also
- Bornean tiger
- Trinil tiger
- Wanhsien tiger
- List of largest carnivorans
- List of largest prehistoric carnivorans
- Megafauna
References
- ↑ Koenigswald, G. H. R. von (1933). "Beitrag zur Kenntnis der fossilen Wirbeltiere Javas". Wetenschappelijke Mededeelingen Dienst Mijnbouw Nederlansch Oost-Indie 23: 1−127.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Ronald Tilson, Philip J. Nyhus, ed (2009). Tigers of the World: The Science, Politics and Conservation of Panthera tigris. Academic Press. https://books.google.com/books?id=XFIbjBEQolMC&pg=PA57.
- ↑ "Assessing prey competition in fossil carnivore communities — a scenario for prey competition and its evolutionary consequences for tigers in Pleistocene Java". Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 257: 67–80. doi:10.1016/j.palaeo.2007.09.004. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S003101820700466X.
- ↑ Paul S Martin (1984). Quaternary Extinctions. The University of Arizona Press. ISBN 0-8165-1100-4.
- ↑ Sorkin, B. (2008). "A biomechanical constraint on body mass in terrestrial mammalian predators". Lethaia 41 (4): 333–347. doi:10.1111/j.1502-3931.2007.00091.x. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/resolve/doi?DOI=10.1111/j.1502-3931.2007.00091.x.
- ↑ Sangiran: Man, Culture, and Environment in Pleistocene Time
External links
 |
