Comparison of 2600 bp mitochondrial sequences of the Sundarbans tigers with the
sequences from six other tiger subspecies revealed that Sundarbans tigers shared three nucleotide substitutions that were identified as specific (or diagnostic) to Bengal tiger subspecies. The mtDNA amplification target includes 13 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), of which 3 are diagnostic (fixed differences) for P. t. tigris [2]. In addition, we found two new haplotypes that were shared only among Sundarbans tigers. One variable site was observed at ND5 region and was shared among all six Sundarbans samples. However, the other variable site at cytb region was found only in three samples. These substitutions differentiated Sundarbans tigers from rest of the other tiger subspecies.