Clearly, tigers are members of the cat family, and everyone knows that tigers are the ones with the stripes. Beyond that, however, things are not so clear.

In order to study animals clearly and completely, scientists need to identify them specifically according to genetic makeup. With tigers, that's been difficult to achieve, because while the animals indeed exhibit some differences depending on where they live, all of them demonstrate many similarities too - and all of them can interbreed readily with one another to produce fertile offspring. As a consequence, scientists have long struggled with the details of exactly how to classify the animal.

The standard that has now been agreed upon separates all tigers into eight subspecies, known according to their common names based on the regions in which they can be - or once could be - found (in alphabetical order): Bali, Bengal, Caspian, Indo-Chinese, Javan, Siberian, South China, Sumatran. The technical name for each of these subspecies is included on each one's individual page.

Two interesting genetic sidelights are worth noting here. First, from history we often hear the term "saber-toothed tiger." Today, however, scientists agree that there never was a member of the tiger species with saber teeth. So, these historical beasts - which roamed through many areas in which wild tigers never have been found (North America, for example) are now referred to more commonly and correctly simply as saber-toothed "cats." Second, white tigers are often mistakenly identified as albinos, or as the tigers that inhabit snowy regions, or even as an entirely separate subspecies. But none of those classifications is correct. White tigers are known to have occurred naturally only among the Bengal subspecies, and only when a genetic anomaly occurs in such a way that the orange pigmentation in the animal's skin and fur fails to appear. Other than that, white tigers were originally nothing more than a set of special individuals within the Bengal subspecies - no more genetically unique than, say, people who have blond hair. These days, it is important to note, white tigers have been raised in captivity and interbred with other subspecies of tigers to a point where they can no longer be identified specifically as members of only the Bengal subspecies.

There are many behavioral traits that all tigers share, regardless of which subspecies they belong to. All tigers are largely solitary and independent creatures. They do not form large groups the way lions are known to do. Occasionally tigers will form small family units, especially when a mother is raising her cubs. But aside from that, adult tigers of all the subspecies prefer to spend most of their time alone. All tigers are also carnivorous predators. In other words, they all hunt live prey and eat mostly meat - usually an average of between 4 and 7 kilograms per day. But the subspecies do differ a great deal in size, and therefore, have different requirements in terms of both territory and food.

After a gestation period of approximately 105 days, female tigers of all subspecies typically bear a small litter of between one and five cubs every few years, and they then spend between one-and-a-half and two years raising the cubs to maturity.

Wild tigers have a life span of around 15 years in the wild. Captive tigers have been known to live for 20 years or more. This is mostly due to the fact that life is much harder for a tiger that has to hunt to survive as opposed to one that is regularly fed a balanced diet.