Biology Term Paper - Tigers

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Tigers use their tails for balance when they run through fast turns. They also use their tails to communicate with other tigers.
Where did tigers come from? Tigers (and all other carnivores) are descended from civet-like animals called miacids that lived during the age of the dinosaurs about 60 million years ago. These small mammals, with long bodies and short flexible limbs, evolved over millions of years into several hundred different species, including cats, bears, dogs and weasels. Approximately 37 cat species exist today, including Panthera tigris, the tiger. Tigers evolved in eastern Asia, and while some of the earliest tiger fossils have been found in Siberia and China, the tiger's exact place of origin is unknown.

Adult tigers are solitary animals that establish their territories in areas with enough prey, cover and water to support them. The difficulty of locating prey in tiger habitat makes it more efficient for tigers to hunt alone. As a result, they do not tend to ...

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in part why the female roars and lashes out at the male immediately following copulation. Following mating, the gestation period for tigers is approximately 103 days. The average litter size of tigers is 2 or 3 cubs, the largest is 5. One usually dies at birth. Tiger cubs are born blind and weigh only about 1 kg, depending on th subspecies. They live on milk for 6-8 weeks (See diagram B) before the female begins taking them to kills to feed. Tigers have fully developed canines by 16 months of age, but they do not begin making

their own kills until about 18 months of age. Young tigers live with their mother until they are two to three years old, then they find their own territories. ...

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