Features of a Tiger

Legs and Feet

• The bone structure and characteristics of a tiger's hind legs have developed to enable it to better catch prey. The tiger's front legs are shorter than the animal's hind legs, but the bones are very dense, allowing the tiger the musculature required for successful hunting. The cat's long hind legs make the tiger a powerful jumper, too. The tiger's padded feet are adapted for hunting, and are especially big, causing them to make less noise while moving.

Claws

• A tiger has curved and retractable claws, allowing the animal to essentially sheath them when not needed. This action prevents these claws from getting blunt, meaning they're constantly sharp for hunting prey. The curve of the animal's claws are useful for climbing up surfaces, and when utilized against prey, enable the tiger to get a firm hold and bring down its food. Tiger paws are made of four claws --- each about 4 inches long --- and at the back, a dewclaw, which acts much like a human thumb.

Colors &Stripes

• Each tiger is covered in an individual collection of dark stripes, which contrast with their white underbellies and, in the case of most tigers, brown coats; the pattering of these stripes also distinguishes them from every other tiger. The number of stripes varies with species of tiger however, with the Sumatran tiger possessing a fair few more stripes than the Siberian tiger, for example. A tiger's stripes are believed by some experts to provide the animal with camouflage in the wild, as the Indian Tiger website notes.

Weight and Height

• As the largest of the big cat kingdom, the tiger stretches between 4 1/2 and 9 feet from its head to the end of its body, and has a tail that can grow to be 4 feet in size. The weight of a tiger varies according to its species. In general, a tiger weighs between 240 and 500 pounds, with Siberian tigers at the top end of the scale and light Sumatran tigers at the other. A female tiger weighs less than a male.

Eyespots

• The back of both a tiger's ears features a circular white spot, which experts have named eyespots due to their appearance. Though zoologists aren't completely sure of the purpose of these spots, it's possible that the spots make aggressors approaching the tiger from behind think that they're being watched, and therefore desist attacking the tiger, as the Seaworld website suggests. The eyespots might also help tigers send a powerful message to attackers when threatened, as the tiger turns its ears to face forward.