FAMILY TREE

Tiger, Tiger

Like other cats, tigers are descended from a group of marten-like woodland animals, similar to those identified from fossils in the family Miacidae. These animals, which lived during the Cretaceous period some 60million years ago, were among the first true carnivores and are closely related to the modern day Felidae family. Members of the cat family are the most bloodthirsty of all carnivores, with a lithe, powerful body adapted for stealthy hunting and killing. Their teeth are designed for stabbing and slicing soft flesh and they lack flat molars for grinding meat and bones.

Family resemblance

The members of the cat family, Felidae, all look very much like one another, which makes them hard to classify. In certain circumstances, such as in captivity, different species can interbreed. The tiger's closest living relative is the South American jaguar. Eight distinct subspecies of tiger have been identified throughout the species' range. Of these, the Caspian, Bali and Javan tiger are thought to have recently become extinct.

DID YOU KNOW?

The tiger that never was

The Smilodon, better known as the sabre-toothed tiger, was not really a tiger, in fact, it wasn't even a true cat. It belonged to a group of carnivores called nimravids, which roamed the Earth from 1.6 million years ago until as recently as the last Ice Age, 11,000 years ago.