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Concept
Malayan tiger
Summary
The Malayan tiger is a tiger from a specific population of the Panthera tigris tigris subspecies that is native to Peninsular Malaysia. This population inhabits the southern and central parts of the Malay Peninsula and has been classified as critically endangered on the IUCN Red List since 2015. , the population was estimated at 80 to 120 mature individuals with a continuous declining trend.
In the Malay language, the tiger is called harimau, also abbreviated to rimau. It is also known as the southern Indochinese tiger, to distinguish it from tiger populations in northern parts of Indochina, which are genetically different to this population.
Felis tigris was the scientific name used by Carl Linnaeus in 1758 for the tiger.
Panthera tigris corbetti was proposed by Vratislav Mazák in 1968 for the tiger subspecies in Southeast Asia. Panthera tigris jacksoni was proposed in 2004 as a subspecies as a genetic analysis indicated differences in mtDNA and micro-satellite sequences to P. t. corbetti. Since revision of felid taxonomy in 2017, the Malayan tiger is recognised as a P. t. tigris population. However, a genetic study published in 2018 supported six monophyletic clades based on whole-genome sequencing analysis of 32 specimens. The Malayan tiger appeared to be distinct from other mainland Asian tiger specimens, thus supporting the concept of six subspecies.
When the tiger population of the Malay Peninsula was accepted as a distinct subspecies in 2004, the chairman of the Malaysian Association of Zoos, Parks and Aquaria argued that the new subspecies should be named Panthera tigris malayensis to reflect the geographical region of its range. As a compromise, it received the vernacular name "Malayan tiger", and the scientific name jacksoni, which honours the tiger conservationist Peter Jackson. Nevertheless, P. t. malayensis was used by other authors.
There is no clear difference between the Malayan and the Indochinese tigers, when specimens from the two regions are compared cranially or in pelage. No type specimen was designated.
Official source
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