THE EVOLUTION OF THE TIGER

BACKGROUND INFO

• Domain: Eukarya
• Kingdom: Animal
• Phylum: Chordata
• Class: Mammal
• Order: Carnivore
• Family: Felidae
• Genus: Panthera
• Species: Panthera Tigris

TIGER FAMILY TREE

• Miacids
• Proailurus
• Pseudaelurus
• Schizailurus
• Felidae
• Panthera

MIACIDS

• Earliest ancestors unclear
• Believed to be Miacids (62-33 million years ago)
• little bodies with long tails.
• Were arboreal while others lived on the ground.
• Teeth and skulls show they were less developed than modern carnivorans.
• Feed on smaller animals

PROAILURUS

• "first cat"
• 25 million years ago
• About the same size as the modern house cat.
• Long tail, large eyes, and sharp teeth and claws.
• Partially arboreal

PSEUDAELURUS

• 20 million years ago
• Ancestor to today's felines and pantherines.
• Also ancestors to the extinct saber tooth tigers.
• Short, vivverrid-like legs suggested that it could climb trees.

SCHIZAILURUS

• The ancestors of the modern day Felidae.
• Scientists are not sure how far these animals date back.
• Estimated from 20-18 million years ago.

FELIDAE

• Modern cats
• 18 million years ago
• (Cats, hyena, civets, mongoose)

PANTHERA

• Big cats
• (Tigers, lions, leapord, panther, jaguar, and snow leapord)
• Still today

Comparison of the Miacid to the Panthera Tigris

(MIACID)

• Miacids were about the size of a Martin.
• Long, little bodies and long tails
• Most were arboreal
• Not developed teeth
• Ate smaller mammals

(TIGER)

• Largest cat species
• Dark Vertical strips
• Non-arboreal
• Large teeth for larger prey
• Feed on larger animal, even larger than itself

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TIME WISE

• Miacids were about 44 million years before the first tiger.
• During those years lots have happened in the evolution of the tiger.

ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS

• Miacids lived in tree tops and were able to travel from branch to branch.
• They also hunted in trees.
• Climate change forced Miacids to leave the trees for the ground.
• Once on the ground, they had to find other prey to feed on.
• Animals are much larger than in trees, so they had to adapt.

ADAPTIONS

• Grew larger in size so they can become more efficient in survival.
• Larger teeth so they can kill prey easier
• Camouflaged fur so they can stalk their prey or hide from unwanted visitors.
• Hearing was improved so they can hear infrasound

THE END