Panthera tigris sudanensis

Panthera tigris sudanensis is a scientific name for a tiger subspecies that was proposed by Paul E. P. Deraniyagala in 1951 based on a tiger skin seen in a Cairo bazaar. When Deraniyagala asked the shop owner for the origin of this specimen, he was told that the animal was shot in Sudan.[1] As Vratislav Mazák wrote in 1980, it was either a joke or the seller felt obliged to be polite and answer the question, whether with truth or invention. Deraniyagala took a picture of the specimen's skin, which according to some scientists looked like a Caspian tiger (P. t. virgata) given the pattern of its stripes. It was most likely smuggled from Iran or Turkey to Egypt. As Mazák wrote, "the situation is half-humorous, half-ironic."[2]

References
  1. Deraniyalaga, P. E. P. (1951). "Does the tiger inhabit the Sudan?". Spolia Zeylanica. 26: 159.
  2. Mazák, V. (1980). Velké kočky a gepardi. Praha: Státní zemědělské nakladatelství.
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