Black Tigers
2023 MAY 6
Preliminary >
Environment and Ecology > Biodiversity > Species in news
Black Tigers
Why in news?
- Recently, the death of a Rare Black Tiger was reported in the Similipal Tiger Reserve in Odisha.
More about the news:
- Simlipal has the world's highest rate of black tiger sightings in the world.
- The death can have a big impact on the Population of Tiger. The population of black tigers is very limited, and the death of a male tiger will affect the breeding of tigers in the region.
About Black Tigers:
- Black Tigers are a rare colour variant of the Bengal tiger and are not a distinct species or geographic subspecies.
- The coat colouration and patterning that make the wild cats appear dark boil down to a single mutation in the Transmembrane Aminopeptidase Q (Taqpep) gene.
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Pseudo Melanistic:
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The abnormally dark or black coat in such tigers is termed pseudo melanistic or false coloured. Melanistic refers to having very dark skin/hair due to higher-than-normal level of the pigment (substance that gives pigmentation to skin/hair is called melanin).
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- There is a high probability (about 60%) that the tiger will have the mutant gene, if randomly selected from Similipal.
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Causes for Black Colour:
- The tigers in the Similipal Tiger Reserve are an isolated population in eastern India and gene flow between them and other tiger populations is very restricted.
- Due to Geographic Isolation, genetically related individuals have been mating with each other for many generations, leading to inbreeding.
- This has important implications for tiger conservation as such isolated and inbred populations are prone to extinction over even short periods of time.
PRACTICE QUESTION
Consider the following statements:
1. Simlipal has the world's highest rate of black tiger sightings in the world
2. Black Tigers are one of the subspecies of Tigers
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
(a) 1 only
(b) 2 only
(c) Both 1 and 2
(d) Neither 1 nor 2
Answer
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