Talk:Maltese Tiger
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Messybeast.com has given permission to use the blue tiger (museum specimen) artist impression on http://www.messybeast.com/genetics/mutant-bigcats.html if someone wishes to add it to the maltese tiger article.
- Messybeast would like to be properly attributed as the image owner. It is not a public domain image.Messybeast 17:38, 1 June 2006 (UTC)
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[edit] FAct or fiction
This animal has never been captured, why is it presented as fact that this animal exists? -Ravedave 00:47, 20 May 2006 (UTC)
- This is becoming a common problem with articles on cryptids whose existence is dubious. Oftentimes the language is changed to be more neutral but an anonymous user reverts it to imply that the animal actually exists. -- Huysman 20:08, 20 May 2006 (UTC)
- Mentioning Harry R. Caldwell as the descrictor of the supspecies in the tassobox is misleading! Caldwell has never described it, not in the meanig that usually is given to the word in the scientific community (i.e. zoological description on a qualified scientific pubblication) --Esculapio 19:47, 8 March 2007 (UTC)
Blue tigers and black tigers are of only slight interest in the field of cryptozoology, because it seems most likely that they will simply be a color phase due to a mutant gene, and not worthy of being declared a new subspecies or species.
[edit] Fujian Province of JAPAN????!?!!
I thought Fujian was part of China. What is this? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 204.52.215.78 (talk) 16:57, 29 April 2007 (UTC).
[edit] Sources?????
Does anyone have sources about this animal? I am very skeptical about that..--Altaileopard 15:28, 4 June 2007 (UTC)
- I find it perfectly plausible. the important thing is to get rid of the "blue" = blue misconception. I find no or virtually no support for an animal as depicted. The tiger of Caldwell was described as 'Maltese base color which changed to deep blue on the undersides'. He noted that the stripes 'appeared to be similar to those of a Bengal Tiger, only of a blue color.' This rhymes well with the Maltese cheetahs and other known blue cats: grey with darker grey pattern and eumelanins predominating by far if not totally ('deep blue undersides' of Caldwell), but not being pervasive (Shuker's "no-agouti" allele suppresses coat pattern to some sort of brown, black, blue or silver throughout.) Dysmorodrepanis 20:06, 16 August 2007 (UTC)
[edit] Picture
Needs revision. Color pattern is not acceptable; how many "blue"-(not silver)-and black-white felids are there exactly? From Cheetah:
- Blue (Maltese or gray) Cheetahs have variously been described as white Cheetahs with gray-blue spots (chinchilla) or pale gray Cheetahs with darker grey spots (Maltese mutation).
which is unsourced but seems 100% in line with Cat coat genetics. See also Caldwell report above. The tricky question is: how blue? Probably not very; this is a rather "blue" cat; compare a Russian Blue, as mentioned in the article. The belly thing is also vexing - could be countershading backfiring as the original pattern for which the backshading fit was no longer there. Or could be hyperexpression of dilute pheomelanin.
In any case, the Caldwell animal was probably slightly hypermelanic, slate grey with bluish grey stripes, and a bluish gray belly. Maltese (dilute) agouti tabby with complete lack of pheomelanin and possibly somewhat enhanced/all-black eumelanin would fit. Dysmorodrepanis 20:06, 16 August 2007 (UTC)
[edit] Needs review
I'm not an outright expert on the specifics, but it was plain obvious that the genetis are fundamentally flawed (things like confusing genes and alleles tend to ring warning bells...). Shuker was hardly trustworthy on that matter too. In fact, I would say he understood not more much of it than the average highschool grad (not specifically pointing at this here problem, but at his attempts at genetic matters in general)
From Cat coat genetics:
"Thus, the non-agouti genotype (aa) masks or hides the tabby pattern (Mc and mc), although sometimes a suggestion of the underlying pattern can be seen (called "ghost striping")"
This is not how Caldwell described his animal. Dysmorodrepanis 20:06, 16 August 2007 (UTC)
