WASHINGTON (September 29, 2025) – Tigers in India’s Similipal Tiger Reserve are showing a rare genetic mutation called pseudo-melanism, where their dark stripes widen and mask much of their orange fur. Roughly half of the reserve’s 30 tigers carry this trait, highlighting both conservation gains and the risks of a shrinking gene pool.
Guillermo Orti, chair of the biology department at the George Washington University, is an evolutionary biologist who studies how isolation and limited gene flow shape genetic diversity. He can explain why rare mutations spread quickly in small populations and what that means for long-term conservation.
R. Alexander Pyron, associate professor of biology, studies speciation and macroecological patterns in reptiles and amphibians. He can discuss the evolutionary forces at play in isolated populations and what the Similipal case reveals about biodiversity risks at both local and global scales.
If you would like to schedule an interview with Professor Orti or Professor Pyron, please contact Claire Sabin at claire [dot] sabin
gwu [dot] edu (claire[dot]sabin[at]gwu[dot]edu).
-GW-