| Panthera tigris soloensis | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Carnivora |
| Family: | Felidae |
| Genus: | Panthera |
| Species: | |
| Subspecies: | |
| Trinomial name | |
| †Panthera tigris soloensis Koenigswald, 1933 | |
| Synonyms[1][2] | |
| |
Panthera tigris soloensis, known as theNgandong tiger,[3] is an extinct subspecies of the moderntiger species. It inhabited theSundaland region ofIndonesia during thePleistocene epoch.[4]
Fossils ofP. t. soloensis wereexcavated primarily near the village ofNgandong, hence the common name. Only seven fossils are known, making study of the animal difficult.[3]
Some remains ofP. t. soloensis suggest that it would have been about the size of a modernBengal tiger. However, given the size of other remains, it may have been larger than a modern tiger. A large male could have weighed around 400 kg (880 lb), in which case it would have been heavier than the largest extant tiger subspecies,[3] rendering it among the largest felids known to have ever lived.[5] In 2016,P. t. soloensis was estimated to weigh 184 kg (406 lb) on average, with the largest specimen estimates to weigh 298 kg (657 lb).[6]
In addition to the remains of the Ngandong tiger, many other fossils from the same era have been discovered in Ngandong, like theproboscideansStegodon trigonocephalus andElephas hysudrindicus, thebovinesBubalus palaeokerabau andBos palaesondaicus, the extantperissodactylsTapirus indicus andRhinoceros sondaicus, and a great variety ofcervine species.Homo erectus soloensis fossils are also known from the area.[7]