A taxonomic revision of the tigers of Southeast Asia

This morphological revision used skull measurements and pelage to assess variation among mainland Southeast Asian tigers and supported recognition of the Malayan tiger as distinct from the Indochinese tiger. Drawing on museum specimens, the authors quantified craniometric differences and aligned them with the molecular signal that had recently emerged, providing an anatomical complement to genetic work. The study contributed to the naming and characterization of the Malayan tiger and to the broader, traditional multi-subspecies view of the species. It illustrates the morphometric approach to felid subspecies, measuring continuous variation and testing whether it forms discrete clusters. The work is frequently cited in the tiger taxonomy debate as morphological evidence for finer subdivision, contrasting with later lumping proposals.