Tigers and household cats differ greatly in size primarily due to what?

• A. Biochemical makeup
• B. Behavioral makeup
• C. Genetics
• D. Habitat size

Answer: (C)

Size differences between tigers and house cats come from genetics—the inherited instructions in their DNA that determine how big an animal can grow, how bones develop, and how much muscle and tissue are built. Over long periods of evolution, these genetic factors have produced tigers as large wild cats and kept domestic cats much smaller. Environment and resources can influence growth to some extent, but they can’t override the genetic limits that set a species’ typical size.

Biochemical makeup isn’t what creates such a large size gap, since both have similar chemistry and the difference lies in how growth is directed by genes. Behavior relates to how animals live or hunt, not to their maximum size. Habitat size can affect access to food, but the inherent size difference comes from genetics.