Baikov supported his claim with detailed drawings comparing the
skulls of these two animals, which, based on his rendering, do bear a
strong resemblance. Machairodus was a genus of large saber-toothed cat,
which lived between two and fifteen million years ago and overlapped
with our protohuman ancestors. Specimens have been found all over the
world. This thrilling if misguided notion of a feline missing link
surviving in the mountain fastness of Manchuria caused a stir among
museums and zoos of the period and helped drive the market for live
specimens. Baikov did his best to promote this view, and, to some extent,
his efforts are still bearing fruit (and sowing confusion) to this day.
Even now, it is taken as a given that the Amur tiger is the biggest cat of
them all and, based on samplings of numerous tiger skulls from all over
Asia, the measurements bear this out. Viewed on a graph, the Amur skulls
show up as outliers, occupying a territory all their own. Seen in this
context, it is easier to understand the impulse to classify them as a
separate species. The fact that they seem to thrive in conditions that
would kill most other tigers is another reason, and it is here that size and
climate have conspired to give the impression of an Ice Age throwback.
Much has been made of the Amur tiger’s massive size by Baikov and
others, and extraordinary dimensions have been claimed: lengths up to
sixteen feet and weights up to nine hundred pounds have been quoted in
reputable publications. It reveals more about us than it does about these
animals that we wish them to be larger than life, but anyone who has been
close to an Amur tiger will tell you that these creatures need no
embellishment; they are big enough as is. The snarling specimen in the
American Museum of Natural History’s Hall of Biodiversity is nearly the
same size as the polar bear in the adjacent Hall of Ocean Life.
One reason Amur tigers grew so big in the popular mind is that, when
Baikov and his contemporaries were describing them, there were many
more to choose from, and among this larger population there certainly
would have been some huge individuals. But there is also a lot of extra
footage to be found in a tiger’s tail, which can comprise a third of the
total length, and a further 10 percent (or more) can be gained by staking
out a fresh, wet hide. In 1834, the Bengal Sporting Magazine described
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