File:Tigon4.jpg · Wikimedia Commons · See Wikimedia Commons
tigon
Sign in to saveAlso known as Panthera tigris × Panthera leo, tiglon
The tigon is a hybrid offspring of a male tiger (Panthera tigris) and a female lion, or lioness (Panthera leo). They exhibit visible characteristics from both parents: they can have both spots from the mother (lions carry genes for spots – lion cubs are spotted and some adults retain faint markings) and stripes from the father. Any mane that a male tigon may have will appear shorter and less noticeable than a lion's mane and is closer in type to the ruff of a male tiger.
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- hybrid
- Subclass of
- Panthera hybrid
- Parent taxon
- Panthera
- Image
- Tigon4.jpg
Show 5 more facts
Sources (2)
via Wikidata · CC0
~2 min read
Encyclopedic overview
5 sectionsContents
- Fertility
- Coexistence of parental species
- See also
- References
- External links
The tigon is a hybrid offspring of a male tiger (Panthera tigris) and a female lion, or lioness (Panthera leo). They exhibit visible characteristics from both parents: they can have both spots from the mother (lions carry genes for spots – lion cubs are spotted and some adults retain faint markings) and stripes from the father. Any mane that a male tigon may have will appear shorter and less noticeable than a lion's mane and is closer in type to the ruff of a male tiger.
Tigons do not exceed the size of their parents' original species because they inherit growth-inhibitory genes from both parents, but they do not exhibit any kind of dwarfism or miniaturization; they often weigh around . It is distinct from the liger, which is a hybrid of a male lion and a female tiger, often weighing from to .
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “tigon” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.