![From where did the tiger come?](https://magarticles.magzter.com/articles/762/515219/5f5a0db86e0be/From-where-did-the-tiger-come.jpg)
IT IS impossible to tell when tigers walked into India. “We can, however, suggest when the habitats in India were appropriate for tigers, or when they diverged and became distinct from other tiger populations,” says Uma Ramakrishnan, molecular ecologist and assistant professor at the National Centre for Biological Sciences in Bengaluru.
No scholar can give an exact date for this, says Mahesh Rangarajan, professor of history and environmental studies at Ashoka University at Sonipat. They will just give the accidentally surviving evidences that have accumulated over time, he says, adding, “If you see the references in author Shibani Bose’s latest work Mega Mammals in Ancient India: Rhinos, Tigers, and Elephants, the tiger was very much here in the historic times, say 5,000 years ago.” Records show a long association of the tiger with humans, he says.
In her book, Bose uses “an archive comprising archaeology, a gamut of literary texts as well as visual depictions” to etch out histories of rhinos, elephants and tigers in ancient India. “The tiger has scant presence in the fossil record, but figures in the archaeological record at Mesolithic Mahadaha, Neolithic Loebanr III and Aligrama in Swat, at Atranjikhera and at Madar Dih,” her book notes.
Despite scant evidence as far as fossils are concerned, tigers abound in literary and pictorial representations of ancient India.
This story is from the September 01, 2020 edition of Down To Earth.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the September 01, 2020 edition of Down To Earth.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
![The Next Pandemic](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/762/1737091/mNHSkGZKo1718799484351/crp_THE-NEXT-PANDEMIC.jpg)
The Next Pandemic
Buoyed by climate change and global trade, pathogens that cause disease outbreaks in food crops are spreading far and wide. They are also evolving fast to reproduce quickly and infect new hosts
![India Feels The Heat This May](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/762/1737091/GbbPUvSoj1718798849203/crp_INDIA-FEELS-THE-HEAT-THIS-MAY.jpg)
India Feels The Heat This May
INDIA WAS under an intense heatwave spell in the second half of May, with temperatures soaring over the northwest region, according to data released by the India Meteorological Department (IMD).
![POWER OF PAAN](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/762/1737091/d9lQuTvet1718800887956/POWER-OF-PAAN.jpg)
POWER OF PAAN
Betel leaves are not just an integral part of India's culture, but also hold many benefits. Add them to your list of healthy greens
!['Fitness our evolutionary advantage, not longevity'](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/762/1737091/OYbloooMl1718800590854/FITNESS-OUR-EVOLUTIONARY-ADVANTAGE-NOT-LONGEVITY.jpg)
'Fitness our evolutionary advantage, not longevity'
Nobel laureate VENKI RAMAKRISHNAN's latest book, Why We Die, covers a journey that starts in the 1800s, when British biologists Charles Darwin and Alfred Wallace proposed natural selection, and continues to this day, as researchers investigate anti-ageing compounds. But how close are we really to cheating ageing and death? In an interview with ROHINI KRISHNAMURTHY, Ramakrishnan, who received the 2009 Nobel prize in chemistry, says the focus of research is on staying healthy for a bigger fraction of life. He also examines the causes of ageing, the drugs being explored to slow down this deterioration, the people involved in the research and a few controversial claims. Excerpts:
![India capitulates on key accord at WIPO](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/762/1737091/7mZys9XfE1718800406360/INDIA-CAPITULATES-ON-KEY-ACCORD-AT-WIPO.jpg)
India capitulates on key accord at WIPO
The WIPO treaty on genetic resources is historic, but it will override vital safeguards in India's law to prevent bad patents
![Wild guess](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/762/1737091/F0yI2QIZk1718799146649/WILD-GUESS.jpg)
Wild guess
Despite being a significant source of greenhouse gases, wildfire emissions remain underestimated
![A local national verdict](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/762/1737091/cHvMwvMJ41718798924571/A-LOCAL-NATIONAL-VERDICT.jpg)
A local national verdict
Issues of unemployment, price rise and agrarian distress seem to have shifted voter sentiment in the recent general elections
![Native nutrition](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/762/1737091/nS03b0LCu1718798695244/NATIVE-NUTRITION.jpg)
Native nutrition
THE LUNCH menu at the Rani Kajal Jeevan Shala School in Kakrana village of Madhya Pradesh shows a healthy mix of pulses, vegetables and millets.
![Look Beyond Dust](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/762/1719707/LUcfRhjSO1717500619374/crp_LOOK-BEYOND-DUST.jpg)
Look Beyond Dust
Reinvent National Clean Air Programme to focus on fine particulate matter and trans-boundary pollution
![PLAN THEM COOL](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/762/1719707/7f5hMRg3Y1717501540417/PLAN-THEM-COOL.jpg)
PLAN THEM COOL
As urban India turns into a heat trap, the government must focus on improving cities' liveability