''Panthera tigris soloensis'', known as the Ngandong tiger, is an extinct subspecies of the modern

tiger The tiger (''Panthera tigris'') is the largest living cat species and a member of the genus '' Panthera''. It is most recognisable for its dark vertical stripes on orange fur with a white underside. An apex predator, it primarily preys on u ...

species. It inhabited the

Sundaland Sundaland (also called Sundaica or the Sundaic region) is a biogeographical region of South-eastern Asia corresponding to a larger landmass that was exposed throughout the last 2.6 million years during periods when sea levels were lower. It ...

region of

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

during the

Pleistocene The Pleistocene ( , often referred to as the ''Ice age'') is the geological Epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from about 2,580,000 to 11,700 years ago, spanning the Earth's most recent period of repeated glaciations. Before a change was fina ...

epoch.

Discoveries

Fossil A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved ...

s of the Ngandong tiger were excavated primarily near the village of

Ngandong Solo Man (''Homo erectus soloensis'') is a subspecies of ''H. erectus'' that lived along the Solo River in Java, Indonesia, about 117,000 to 108,000 years ago in the Late Pleistocene. This population is the last known record of the species. I ...

, hence the common name. Only seven fossils are known, making study of the animal difficult.

Description

The few remains of the Ngandong tiger suggest that it would have been about the size of a modern

Bengal tiger The Bengal tiger is a population of the ''Panthera tigris tigris'' subspecies. It ranks among the biggest wild cats alive today. It is considered to belong to the world's charismatic megafauna. The tiger is estimated to have been present in ...

. However, given the size of other remains, it may have been larger than a modern tiger. A large male could have weighed up to , in which case, it would have been heavier than the largest extant tiger subspecies, and similar in size to ''

Panthera atrox ''Panthera atrox'', better known as the American lion, also called the North American lion, or American cave lion, is an extinct Pantherinae, pantherine cat that lived in North America during the Pleistocene Epoch (geology), epoch and the earl ...

'' (which could have weighed up to 420 kg), rendering it among the largest felids known to have ever lived.

Paleoecology

In addition to the remains of the Ngandong tiger, many other fossils from the same era have been discovered in Ngandong, like the

proboscidean The Proboscidea (; , ) are a taxonomic order of afrotherian mammals containing one living family (Elephantidae) and several extinct families. First described by J. Illiger in 1811, it encompasses the elephants and their close relatives. From ...

s '' Stegodon trigonocephalus'' and ''

Elephas hysudrindicus ''Elephas hysudrindicus'', commonly known as Gajah Blora (Blora Elephant) in Indonesia is a species of extinct elephant of the Pleistocene of Java and is anatomically distinct from the extant Asian elephant ('' E. maximus''). The head of the ...

'', the

bovine Bovines (subfamily Bovinae) comprise a diverse group of 10 genera of medium to large-sized ungulates, including cattle, bison, African buffalo, water buffalos, and the four-horned and spiral-horned antelopes. The evolutionary relationship betwee ...

s ''

Bubalus palaeokerabau ''Bubalus palaeokerabau'' is an extinct species of water buffalo that was endemic to Java Java (; id, Jawa, ; jv, ꦗꦮ; su, ) is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Jav ...

'' and ''

Bos palaesondaicus ''Bos palaesondaicus'' occurred on Pleistocene Java (Indonesia) and belongs to the Bovinae subfamily. It has been described by the Dutch paleoanthropologist Eugène Dubois in 1908.Dubois, E. (1908). Das Geologische Alter der Kendengoder Trinil ...

'', the extant

perissodactyl Odd-toed ungulates, mammals which constitute the taxonomic order Perissodactyla (, ), are animals—ungulates—who have reduced the weight-bearing toes to three (rhinoceroses and tapirs, with tapirs still using four toes on the front legs) o ...

s ''

Tapirus indicus The Malayan tapir (''Tapirus indicus''), also called Asian tapir, Asiatic tapir and Indian tapir, is the only tapir species native to Southeast Asia from the Malay Peninsula to Sumatra. It has been listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List sinc ...

'' and ''

Rhinoceros sondaicus The Javan rhinoceros (''Rhinoceros sondaicus''), also known as the Javan rhino, Sunda rhinoceros or lesser one-horned rhinoceros, is a very rare member of the family Rhinocerotidae and one of five extant rhinoceroses. It belongs to the same ge ...

'', and a great variety of

cervine Deer or true deer are hoofed ruminant mammals forming the family (biology), family Cervidae. The two main groups of deer are the Cervinae, including the muntjac, the elk (wapiti), the red deer, and the fallow deer; and the Capreolinae, inclu ...

species. ''

Homo erectus soloensis Solo Man (''Homo erectus soloensis'') is a subspecies of ''H. erectus'' that lived along the Solo River in Java, Indonesia, about 117,000 to 108,000 years ago in the Late Pleistocene. This population is the last known record of the species. I ...

'' fossils are also known from the area.

References

External links

A new specimen-dependent method of estimating felid body mass (not peer-reviewed)
{{Taxonbar, from=Q16615647 tigris soloensis tigris soloensis Extinct animals of Indonesia Pleistocene carnivorans Fossil taxa described in 1933

Discoveries

Description

Paleoecology

See also

References

External links