Phylogeography and Genetic Ancestry of Tigers

This study sampled tigers from across their range and used mitochondrial and microsatellite markers to test whether the traditional subspecies are genetically distinct. The authors found support for several phylogeographic groups, including the distinctive Sumatran tiger, and described a previously underappreciated Malayan population. They reconstructed a relatively recent common origin for modern tigers, consistent with a late-Pleistocene expansion, followed by regional differentiation. The work clarified which tiger populations represent meaningful evolutionary units, informed the assignment of captive and confiscated tigers to subspecies, and provided a genetic framework that subsequent conservation planning and the debate over how many tiger subspecies to recognize have built upon.