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Resonance journal of science education
Chief Editor
N Sathyamurthy, Bengaluru
Associate Editors
Kaushal Verma, Bengaluru
Satish Patil, Bengaluru
Shobhana Narasimhan, Bengaluru
B Sury, Bengaluru
Tarun Deep Saini, Bengaluru
Varsha Singh, Bengaluru
T N C Vidya, Bengaluru
Editorial Board
Amit Roy, Kolkata
Anand K Bachhawat, Mohali
J K Bera, Kanpur
Bodhisatta Nandy, Berhampur
Govind Krishnaswami, Chennai
Guruswamy Kumaraswamy, Pune
K lndulekha, Kottayam
Kapil Paranjape, Mohali
Lilavati Krishnan, Indore
Madhavan Mukund, Chennai
Manjari Jain, Mohali
Mihir Arjunwadkar, Pune
Nandini Nagarajan, Hyderabad
Raghunand R Tirumalai, Hyderabad
Ramanujam Srinivasan, Bhubaneswar
D J Saikia, Pune
T R Seshadri, Delhi
Shailesh A Shirali, Pune
Sindhu Radhakrishna, Bengaluru
Sudeshna Mazumdar-Leighton, Delhi
Sujata Deshpande, Mumbai
Suman Beri, Chandigarh
R B Sunoj, Mumbai
A R Usha Devi, Bengaluru
Editor of Publications Amitabh Joshi, Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific
Research, Bengaluru
Associate Editor of Publications Ram Sagar, Indian Institute of Astrophysics, Bengaluru
Editorial Staff Geetha Sugumaran, R Pushpavathi, M Srimathi
Circulation and Accounts BS Asha, A Jayakumar, B N Naregal, Meghana B Yadav,
A Shashidhar, TM Tejeswini.
Editorial Office: Indian Academy of Sciences, CV Raman Avenue, PB No. 8005, Bengaluru 560 080, India.
Tel: +91 (80)2266 1243 / 1245/1200, Fax: +91 (80)2361 6094, Email: [email protected]
Website: http://www.ias.ac. in/resonance
All articles are freely accessible on the website of the INDIAN ACADEMY OF SCIENCES
(http://www.ias.ac.in/resonance)
Annual Subscription Rates: Institutions: �1000/- per year;
Individuals: �500/- for one year; Price per single copy: �50/-
AII correspondence regarding subscription should be addressed to The Circulation Department of the
Academy. Email:[email protected]
International subscriptions are processed by Springer (www.springer.com)
For details contact: The Americas (North, South, Central and the Caribbean): journals-ny@springer. com
Outside the Americas: [email protected]
The jurisdiction for all disputes concerning published material, subscription and sale will be at courts/tribunals situated in Bengaluru city only.
© 2019 by the Indian Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.
Night Life
Bengal Tiger
Tyger Tyger, burning bright,
In the forests of the night;
What immortal hand or eye,
Could frame thy fearful symmetry?
- William Blake (1794)
Revered in literature, science and religion, the tiger Panthera tigris is perhaps the most easily recognizable mammal
in the world. Largest among the large cats, the tiger's conservation status is threatened throughout its geographic range
due to habitat destruction and poaching. Six subspecies of the tiger are recognised to exist- Amur tiger P. t. altaica,
Northern Indochinese tiger P. t. corbetti, Malayan tiger P. t. jacksoni, Sumatran tiger P. t. sumatrae, Bengal tiger P.
t. tigris and South China tiger P. t. amoyensis. The Bengal tiger, India's national animal, is the most numerous among
the various tiger forms. Found in a range of habitats from dry and wet deciduous forests, through grassland and temperate
forests to mangrove forests, the Bengal tiger is an apex predator that plays an important role in maintaining the
population levels of other large mammals in the forest. Tigers are typically nocturnal hunters, depending on stealth
and ambush tactics to subdue prey such as deer, wild pig and antelope. They may opportunistically attack prey during
the day, however an examination of their visual capacity clearly shows that they are evolved for nocturnal hunting.
The retinas of tigers are predominantly composed of rods, photoreceptors that are responsible for vision in low light
conditions. Additionally, the tapetum lucidum layer at the back of the retina reflects light back into the eyes, providing
a brighter image on the retina. These morphological adaptations along with the rounded pupil and large lens provide
the species with excellent night vision. Behaviourally too, tigers may soon become fully nocturnal; a recent study in
Nepal documents that tigers have reduced daytime activities and turned more nocturnal in human-dominated areas in
order to avoid human disturbance.
Photo Credit: Kalyan Varma
Text Credit: Sindhu Radhakrishna, NIAS, Bengaluru
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007 /s12045-019-0856-7