Scientists Have Solved The Mystery Of The White Tiger's Coat

By: Tanya Lewis, LiveScience Staff Writer Published: 05/23/2013 12:21 PM EDT on LiveScience The strikingly beautiful, milky coats of white tigers are caused by a single change in a known pigment gene, a new study finds. Since their discovery in the Indian jungle centuries ago, white tigers, a variant of Bengal tigers (Panthera tigris tigris), have had a certain mystique. Captive white tigers have been inbred to preserve the recessive white coat trait, leading some to speculate the trait is a gen...