Category: Nature/Places

Tiger Temporal range: Early Pleistocene – Present PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N ↓
A Bengal tigress in Kanha Tiger Reserve, India
Conservation status
Endangered  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
CITES Appendix I (CITES)[1]
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Carnivora
Suborder:	Feliformia
Family:	Felidae
Subfamily:	Pantherinae
Genus:	Panthera
Species:	P. tigris
Binomial name
Panthera tigris (Linnaeus, 1758)[2]
Subspecies
P. t. tigris P. t. sondaica †P. t. acutidens †P. t. soloensis †P. t. trinilensis
Tiger distribution as of 2022
Synonyms[3]
Felis tigris Linnaeus, 1758 Tigris striatus Severtzov, 1858 Tigris regalis Gray, 1867

The tiger (Panthera tigris) is a member of the genus Panthera and the largest living cat species native to Asia. It has a powerful, muscular body with a large head and paws, a long tail, and orange fur with black, mostly vertical stripes. It is traditionally classified into nine recent subspecies, though some recognise only two subspecies, mainland Asian tigers and island tigers of the Sunda Islands.

Throughout the tiger's range, it inhabits mainly forests, from coniferous and temperate broadleaf and mixed forests in the Russian Far East and Northeast China to tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests on the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia. The tiger is an apex predator and preys mainly on ungulates such as deer and wild boar, which it takes by ambush. It lives a mostly solitary life and occupies home ranges, which it defends from individuals of the same sex. The range of a male tiger overlaps with that of multiple females with whom he mates. Females give birth to usually two or three cubs that stay with their mother for about two years. When becoming independent, they leave their mother's home range and establish their own.

Since the early 20th century, tiger populations have lost at least 93% of their historic range and are locally extinct in West and Central Asia, in large areas of China, and on the islands of Java and Bali. Today, the tiger's range is severely fragmented. It is listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, as its range is thought to have declined by 53% to 68% since the late 1990s. Major reasons for this decline are habitat destruction and fragmentation due to deforestation, poaching for fur, and the illegal trade of tiger body parts for medicinal purposes. Tigers are also victims of human–wildlife conflict as they attack and prey on livestock in areas where natural prey is scarce.

The tiger is legally protected in all range countries. National conservation measures consist of action plans, anti-poaching patrols and schemes for monitoring tiger populations. In several range countries, wildlife corridors have been established and tiger reintroduction is planned..

The tiger is among the most popular of the world's charismatic megafauna. It has been kept in captivity since ancient times and has been trained to perform in circuses and other entertainment shows. The tiger featured prominently in the ancient mythology and folklore of cultures throughout its historic range and has continued to appear in culture worldwide.

Etymology[edit]

The Old English tigras derives from Old French tigre, from Latin tigris, which was a borrowing from Classical Greek τίγρις 'tigris'.^[4] Since ancient times, the word tigris has been suggested to originate from the Armenian or Persian word for 'arrow', which may also be the origin of the name for the river Tigris.^[5][6] However, today, the connection between the animal and the river is doubted, and they are likely to be homonyms.^[6]

Taxonomy[edit]

In 1758, Carl Linnaeus described the tiger in his work Systema Naturae and gave it the scientific name Felis tigris, as the genus Felis was being used for all cats at the time. His scientific description was based on descriptions by earlier naturalists such as Conrad Gessner and Ulisse Aldrovandi.^[2] In 1929, Reginald Innes Pocock subordinated the species under the genus Panthera using the scientific name Panthera tigris.^[7][8]

Subspecies[edit]

Nine recent tiger subspecies have been proposed between the early 19th and early 21st centuries, the Bengal, Malayan, Indochinese, South China, Siberian, Caspian, Javan, Bali and Sumatran tigers.^[9][10] The validity of several tiger subspecies was questioned in 1999 as most putative subspecies were distinguished on the basis of fur length and colouration, striping patterns and body size of specimens in natural history museum collections that are not necessarily representative for the entire population, it was proposed to recognise only two tiger subspecies as valid, namely P. t. tigris in mainland Asia and the smaller P. t. sondaica in the Greater Sunda Islands.^[11]

This two-subspecies proposal was reaffirmed in 2015 through a comprehensive analysis of morphological, ecological, and mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) traits of all putative tiger subspecies. The continental nominate subspecies P. t. tigris constitutes two clades: a northern clade composed of the Siberian and Caspian tiger populations, and a southern clade composed of all other mainland populations.^[10] In 2017, the Cat Classification Task Force of the IUCN Cat Specialist Group revised felid taxonomy in accordance with the 2015 two-subspecies proposal and recognised only P. t. tigris and P. t. sondaica.^[12] Results of a 2018 whole-genome sequencing study of 32 samples from the six living putative subspecies—the Bengal, Malayan, Indochinese, South China, Siberian and Sumatran tiger—found them to be distinct and separate clades.^[13] These results were corroborated in 2021 and 2023.^[14][15] The Cat Specialist Group states that "Given the varied interpretations of data, the [subspecific] taxonomy of this species is currently under review by the IUCN SSC Cat Specialist Group."^[16]

The following tables are based on the classification of the tiger as of 2005,^[9] and also reflect the classification recognised by the Cat Classification Task Force in 2017.^[12]

Panthera tigris tigris (Linnaeus, 1758)^[2]

Population	Description	Image
Bengal tiger formerly P. t. tigris (Linnaeus, 1758)[2]	This population inhabits the Indian subcontinent.[17] The Bengal tiger has shorter fur than tigers further north,[8] with a light tawny to orange-red colouration,[8][18] and relatively long and narrow nostrils.[19]
†Caspian tiger formerly P. t. virgata (Illiger, 1815)[20]	This population occurred from Turkey to around the Caspian Sea.[17] It had bright rusty-red fur with thin and closely spaced brownish stripes,[21] and a broad occipital bone.[11] Genetic analysis revealed that it was closely related to the Siberian tiger.[22] It has been extinct since the 1970s.[23]
Siberian tiger formerly P. t. altaica (Temminck, 1844)[24]	This population lives in the Russian Far East, Northeast China and possibly North Korea.[17] The Siberian tiger has long hair and dense fur.[24] Its ground colour varies widely from ochre-yellow in winter to more reddish and vibrant after moulting.[25] The skull is shorter and broader than the skulls of tigers further south.[19]
South China tiger formerly P. t. amoyensis (Hilzheimer, 1905)[26]	This tiger historically lived in south-central China.[17] The skulls of the five type specimens had shorter carnassials and molars than tigers from India, a smaller cranium, orbits set closer together and larger postorbital processes; skins were yellowish with rhombus-like stripes.[26] It has a unique mtDNA haplotype due to interbreeding with ancient tiger lineages.[12][27][28] It is extinct in the wild as there has not been a confirmed sighting since the 1970s,[1] and survives only in captivity.[15]
Indochinese tiger formerly P. t. corbetti (Mazák, 1968)[29]	This tiger population occurs on the Indochinese Peninsula.[17] Indochinese tiger specimens are smaller with smaller skulls than specimens from India and appear to have darker fur with slightly narrower stripes.[29][30]
Malayan tiger formerly P. t. jacksoni (Luo et al., 2004)[31]	The Malayan tiger was proposed as a distinct subspecies on the basis of mtDNA and micro-satellite sequences that differ from the Indochinese tiger.[31] It does not differ significantly in fur colour or skull size from Indochinese tigers.[30] There is no clear geographical barrier between tiger populations in northern Malaysia and southern Thailand.[1]

Panthera tigris sondaica (Temminck, 1844)^[12]

Population	Description	Image
†Javan tiger formerly P. t. sondaica (Temminck, 1944)[24]	This tiger was described based on an unspecified number of skins with short and smooth hair.[24] Tigers from Java were small compared to tigers of the Asian mainland, had relatively elongated skulls compared to the Sumatran tiger, and longer, thinner and more numerous stripes.[30] The Javan tiger is thought to have gone extinct by the 1980s.[23]
†Bali tiger formerly P. t. balica (Schwarz, 1912)[32]	This tiger occurred on Bali and had brighter fur and a smaller skull than the Javan tiger.[32][33] A typical feature of Bali tiger skulls is the narrow occipital bone, which is similar to the Javan tiger's skull.[34] The tiger went extinct in the 1940s.[23]
Sumatran tiger formerly P. t. sumatrae (Pocock, 1929)[35]	The type specimen from Sumatra had dark fur.[35] The Sumatran tiger has particularly long hair around the face,[17] thick body stripes,[30] and a broader and smaller nasal bone than other island tigers.[30][19]

Evolution[edit]

The tiger shares the genus Panthera with the lion, leopard, jaguar and snow leopard. Results of genetic analyses indicate that the tiger and snow leopard are sister species whose lineages split from each other between 2.70 and 3.70 million years ago.^[37] The tiger's whole genome sequencing shows repeated sequences that parallel those in other cat genomes.^[38]

The fossil species Panthera palaeosinensis of early Pleistocene northern China was described as a possible tiger ancestor when it was discovered in 1924, but modern cladistics places it as basal to modern Panthera.^[39][40] Panthera zdanskyi, which lived around the same time and place, was suggested to be a sister species of the modern tiger when it was examined in 2014.^[40] However, as of 2023, at least two subsequent studies considered P. zdanskyi likely to be a synonym of P. palaeosinensis, noting that its proposed differences from that species fell within the range of individual variation.^[41][42] The earliest appearance of the modern tiger species in the fossil record are jaw fragments from Lantion in China that are dated to the early Pleistocene.^[40]

Middle- to late-Pleistocene tiger fossils have been found throughout China, Sumatra and Java. Prehistoric subspecies include Panthera tigris trinilensis and P. t. soloensis of Java and Sumatra, and P. t. acutidens of China; late Pleistocene and early Holocene fossils of tigers have also been found in

Summer Days
Limited edition cover of Summer Days (DVD-ROM)
Genre	Drama, eroge, harem
Video game
Developer	0verflow (Microsoft Windows) AiCherry (DVD) ixia (PSP)
Publisher	0verflow (Windows) AiCherry (DVD) PalaceGame (PSP)
Genre	Visual novel
Platform	Windows DVD PSP
Released	JP: June 23, 2006 JP: April 27, 2012 (Shiny Days) NA: November 25, 2015 (Shiny Days)
Light novel
Written by	Okada Ryuna
Illustrated by	Junji Goto
Published by	Harvest Publishing
Imprint	Harvest Novels
Demographic	Male
Published	December 1, 2006
Volumes	1

Summer Days is an erotic visual novel developed by 0verflow, released on June 23, 2006, for Microsoft Windows and later ported as a DVD game and for the PlayStation Portable (PSP). It is the second installation of School Days line of series, succeeding the visual novel of the same name and preceding Cross Days. Unlike the previous titles, that exist in the same continuity however, Summer Days is a spin-off of the original story retold from the perspective of Setsuna Kiyoura, a high school student out for summer vacation who finds herself attracted to Makoto Itou, a classmate and fellow patron of a restaurant she eventually comes to work at. The game retains the anime-like presentation familiar to the franchise, requiring little interaction from users, engaging players through a nonlinear plot they are given opportunities to change, and concluding with an ending specific to the choices made during play.

0verflow announced work on Summer Days in October 2005 and marketed it through a promotional campaign consisting of public screenings, sale of merchandise, and a celebratory event on the day of release. In spite of the game's positive performance during this time however, Summer Days was almost universally panned for its heavily bugged state that prompted a disorganized release of large, frustrating patches and an eventual recall. On August 26, 2011, 0verflow announced that the sale of Summer Days was being discontinued and that work on Shiny Days, a modern remake, was underway. The remake was released on April 27, 2012.

Though not as generous as its predecessor, Summer Days made transitions into other media following the game's release. A comics anthology of the series was published, as was two art books of character illustrations and a light novel. The game's soundtrack was also released by Lantis.

Gameplay[edit]

As a visual novel, Summer Days contains extremely minimal gameplay. The game's core onscreen presentation is composed of scenes that are viewed from a mostly third-person perspective. At predetermined intervals, the game brakes, and players are presented with one to two responses or actions relevant to the scene in progress to make, or not make, on behalf of characters. Each selection branches the game's progress up that point in an alternate direction, while also causing the player's love toward a character to blossom, plateau, or diminish,^[1] thus providing for a nonlinear storytelling experience. As with its predecessor being an erotic title, relationships between characters may expectedly become sexual; scenes of this kind depict French kissing, masturbation, oral sex, anal sex, sexual intercourse, ejaculation, nudity (both female and male) or combination of the six, and pixelized censors over genitals^[2] (The North America release did not censor the genitals). Each route the game takes does invariably conclude at some point with an ending specific to it, thus, players who wish to watch additional endings, and notably aforementioned sex scenes, will have to play through the game more than once.^[1]

Much like the other games in the franchise, Summer Days is unusual in that instead of traditionally static characters with subtitled dialogue,^[3] it incorporates motion and voice, making it reminiscent of an animated series. Cinamatics naturally play on their own, and players are afforded the ability to pause, fast-forward, and even skip those they've seen before; sex scenes, additionally, become unlockable from the main menu as they are reached in the game. Progress can be saved at any time and loaded from either the main menu or during play.^[1]

Limited edition copies of Summer Days were also bundled with the standalone Flash mini-game Ahoge Battle (アホ毛 バトル, Ahoge Batoru),^[4] a whimsical take on School Days ending "Bloody End". Choosing from three difficulties, the player controls Sekai, who attempts to fight off Kotonoha by pressing any two configurable keys in quick session. In the case of the highest difficulty, a third is also used. If the player is able to fend off their opponent long enough to fill their end of a progress bar, the game is won and a tally of how many times each key was pressed is recorded. If the player loses, they are given a chance to continue.^[5] In an identical fashion, limited edition copies of Shiny Days are expected to come bundled with Strip Battle Days (ストリップバトルデイズ, Sutorippu Batoru Deizu), a rock-paper-scissors mini-game based around the disrobing of female characters.^[6]

Plot[edit]

Setsuna Kiyoura is a high school student out of school for summer vacation, enjoying the break with family and peers. When her childhood friend Sekai is bedridden with mumps and unable to attend to her part-time waitressing job, Setsuna much to her chagrin, agrees to fill in for her. Though she finds the work almost thoroughly unpleasant, from the revealing uniforms to difficult customers, Setsuna manages to overcome the challenges of the job through the encouragement of friends, particularly that of Makoto Itōu, a classmate she likes.^[7]

Setting[edit]

Set in the same universe as School Days, Summer Days retells the story of the first game had it occurred during the midst of summer vacation instead of at school^[8] and from the perspective of another protagonist. The game takes place in a fictional, undisclosed prefecture of Japan that spans a range of cities, particularly a coastline called Haramihama, where the game's restaurant and center of activity, Radish, is established. As such Summer Days shares the same setting with a previous 0verflow game called Summer Radish Vaction!! as well as the same characters of Setsuna and Sekai's mothers.^[9]

Characters[edit]

Summer Days incorporates all but a few of the recognized cast from School Days while introducing a handful of characters that would become new to the franchise. The game focuses on the life of Setsuna Kiyoura, a character remembered for her impassive personality in School Days,^[10][11] repurposed as the thoroughly more open and emotional protagonist of its sequel. A first-year high school student out for summer vacation, Setsuna lives in the fictional city of Motehara^[12][13] with her mother Mai,^[11][14] a restaurateur who is frequently at work, and routinely visits Sekai Saionji, her childhood friend.^[11][15]

In spite of the resentment she develops for the job she later takes, Setsuna finds the restaurant a wonderful social outlet. Besides reacquainting with Sekai's mother Youko, the owner,^[11][16] and a couple of meddlesome co-workers, Noan and Oruha,^[11][17][18] Setsuna meets a handful of new and familiar people on the job. Her first acquaintance is with Kokoro Katsura, a cheerful pre-teen who regularly stops in before piano lessons,^[11][19] Itaru Itou, a contagiously sweet little girl visiting for the summer,^[11][20] and Itaru's older brother Makoto,^[11][21] a classmate whom Setsuna has a crush on.

Through Makoto, Setsuna is further introduced to Otome Katou, Makoto's best friend and a member of the school's women's basketball team,^[11][22] her younger sister Karen, a rambunctious antithesis with a comparatively larger bust,^[11][23] and Karen's friends Futaba and Kazuha Nijou, a pair of identical twins.^[11][24][25] Of the people Setsuna knows, Hikari Kuroda, a girl whose family owns a bakery known for its custard pie,^[11][26] and Ai Yamagata, a bespectacled and soft-spoken classmate,^[11][27] make occasional stopovers.

Development[edit]

News about Summer Days arguably first appeared on October 1, 2005, when 0verflow posted a link to the game's then-live website on their official blog.^[28] On April 1, 2006, 0verflow began a blog for the game, the first of which announced that Summer Days had been postponed from an original release in April to June 23.^[29] Character profiles were added between April 9^[29] to June 17.^[30]

Promotion for the game began shortly after. 0verflow announced on April 26 that it would be attending Dream Party 2006, an anime convention, in Tokyo on May 4 and in Osaka on May 28,^[29] selling retail copies of previous titles and Summer Days wall scrolls.^[31] In addition to announcing its attendance, the company also began to sell costumes of the game's waitress uniform^[32] on April 26.^[33] On May 2,^[30] 0verflow posted that the company would be visiting Akihabara, Osaka, Tokushima, Koriyama, Nagoya and Sapporo^[34] showcasing the game and selling Summer Days phone cards.^[35] Following a downloadable sample of the Summer Days limited edition DVD on May 12,^[33] 0verflow released a teaser of the game on May 18.^[33] The game's opening cinema was later posted for download on June 10.^[36]

As Summer Days approached release, 0verflow announced on June 17^[36] that it would host an autograph signing by the game's character artist, Junji Goto, from June 24 to 25 in Nagoya and Osaka respectively,^[37] and that a celebratory event would be hosted at the Kyoto Kaikan Hall from 11:00am to 7:30pm on June 23.^[38] Unfortunately for the company, Summer Days would not live up to its hype.

On December 1, 2006,^[39] 0verflow posted that it would be attending Comic Exhibit 71, an anime convention, from December 29 to 30, selling Summer Days merchandise, such as phone cards and lanyards.^[40] Following a short merchandise campaign from January 1 to January 9, 2007,^[41] and the attendance of Dream Party 2007 in Osaka and Tokyo from April to May respectively,^[42][43] active promotion for Summer Days effectively ended.

Patches and recall[edit]

On June 22, 2006, the day before the game's release, 0verflow posted on their blog^[36] that a patch called 1.01B, at 1.25 GB, was being distributed through file hosting sites and BitTorrent as a successor to a 1.01A^[44] at 2.29GB.^[45] Customers were encouraged to use BitComet and to seed the patch to others after download.^[46] On June 28, having discovered that the game had been released in a heavily bugged condition, 0verflow issued an apology to its customers, stating that work on patches had begun and would be distributed to players through BitTorrent and retail outlets at no charge.^[47] Players who had contacted the company would equally be sent copies of the patches in the mail.^[47] Holyseal.net, a file hosting service that 0verflow had used for its patches, accounts that from June 24 to July 24, eleven additional patches, comprising 1.02B, 1.02, 1.03, 1.03B, 1.04, 1.04B, 1.05, 1.05B, 1.06, 1.07 and 1.09, totaling roughly 8.56GB, were released.^[45] On October 30^[48] 0verflow posted 2.01, the final patch necessary to bring the game to stable build.^[49]

Two days after patch 1.06 had been posted on July 7, 2006,^[50] 0verflow announced that limited edition copies of Summer Days were found to contain uncensored sex scenes, a violation of their game rating partner's policy^[51] and Article 175 of the Penal Code of Japan.^[52] As a result, 0verflow issued a recall of the affected games. Customers who had purchased limited edition copies were asked to contact the company via mail for replacements;^[53] on October 11, 0verflow announced that renewals would be shipped out on October 27.^[54] As a result of the game's unprofitable recall, a rumor surfaced that 0verflow was forced to lay off half of its company employees, reported on at least once by New-akiba.com, a Chiyoda-based online magazine for Akihabara.^[55]

Ports[edit]

Summer Days was ported to two other platforms. AiCherry, an interactive movie developer, announced on January 17, 2008,^[56] that it had picked up the game for development, releasing it as a DVD game on April 11.^[57] PalaceGame, a UMD publisher, also published the game for the PlayStation Portable (PSP) on September 24, 2010.^[58]

Remake[edit]

News alluding to a remake or sequel of Summer Days called Shiny Summer Days surfaced on August 26, 2011,^[59] when 0verflow announced via their blog that support for Summer Days was being discontinued.^[60] Days later on August 31,^[59] the company began its first promotion for the new game, selling brand T-shirts^[61] which reportedly sold out on September 16.^[59] Promotions continued with the attendance of Dream Party 2011 in Tokyo on October 3, where 0verflow sold brand phone cards and ornaments, T-shirts and dakimakura cases.^[62] The game's official website went live on December 1,^[63] revealing the new story^[64] and characters, two making first appearances.^[65] A day later on December 2, 0verflow announced that retailers would begin accepting pre-orders on December 15,^[63] followed by a public release of the game's opening on December 6 and a subsequent promo on December 16.^[63]

On February 2, 2012, a public trial of Shiny Days was released for download.^[66] Eight days later on February 10, 0verflow announced that the game had been postponed from its original launch date to sometime in late April.^[67] The company followed up this announcement on March 12,^[59] stating that a more specific date would be posted in the next couple of days.^[68] The date change was announced on Nico Nico Douga as April 27.^[69]

Shiny Days received a North American release on September 29, 2015 through JAST USA, with translation by former fan translation group Sekai Project. However, JAST USA announced that sex scenes involving the characters Kokoro and her classmate will be removed from the North American version of the game, due to the possibility of these scenes being considered child pornography, which is a federal crime in the United States.^{[citation needed]} These scenes can be added back via a patch that was made available for download three months after the game's initial release, though. The game was JAST's first new release from the School Days franchise since their School Days HQ release in October 2012.

Sales[edit]

In a national sales ranking of bishōjo games in PCNEWS, a now-defunct online magazine, Summer Days ranked as the number one game sold for the second half of June 2006,^[70] seventh most for the first half of July,^[71] twenty-fifth for the second half of October,^[72] before ending as the twenty-eighth and forty-eighth game for the first and second half of November.^[72][73]

Getchu.com recorded similar sales. Summer Days for Windows was the number one game sold during the month of its release^[74] but failed to chart any further thereafter, ranking eighth in the company for the overall year.^[75]

Media[edit]

Books and publications[edit]

Summer Days never transitioned into a serialized manga, though it did make it into other print. The first of these instances was a comics anthology by Junji Goto, fittingly titled Summer Days Comic Anthology, published by Comic XO on October 25, 2006.^[76][77] Five days later, on October 30, Jive published two art books; The Summer Days & School Days Visual Collection and Summer Days Visual Guidebook.^[76] The final publication to be made was a light novel written by Okada Ryuna, illustrated by Junji Goto, and published by Harvest Publishing under their Harvest Novels imprint on December 1.^[76]

Audio CD[edit]

Like School Days, the original soundtrack of Summer Days was reproduced for distribution on June 23, 2006, by Lantis.^[78][79] The album contains all the game's background music, all of which was composed by KIRIKO/HIKO Sound, and theme songs performed by YURIA, yozuca*, Minami Kuribayashi and Kanako Itō, totaling 31 tracks.^[80]

References[edit]