Common Earthball vs Tiger

Scleroderma citrinum compared with Panthera tigris

Key Differences

• Common Earthball is Least Concern while Tiger is Endangered.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Common Earthball	Tiger
Kingdom	Fungi (菌界)	Animalia (動物)
Phylum	Basidiomycota (担子菌門)	Chordata (脊索動物)
Class	Agaricomycetes (真正担子菌綱)	Mammalia (哺乳類)
Order	Boletales (イグチ目)	Carnivora (ネコ目)
Family	Sclerodermataceae	Felidae (Cats)
Genus	Scleroderma	Panthera (Big Cats)
Species	Scleroderma citrinum	Panthera tigris

Conservation Status

Common Earthball

LC — Least Concern

Tiger

EN — Endangered

Population: ~4.5K

Trend: Increasing ↑

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Common Earthball	Tiger
Diet	—	Carnivore
Average Lifespan	—	20 years
Average Length	—	3.0 m
Average Weight	—	220.0 kg

Habitat & Geographic Range

Common Earthball

Habitat

Typically found in forest floors, decomposing wood, and soil ecosystems.

Range

Widely distributed across Asia (Taiwan), Europe (5 countries), North America (United States), and South America (Brazil, Chile).

Tiger

Habitat

Found across multiple habitat types including tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests, tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forests, and tropical and subtropical grasslands and savannas, among 6 distinct biome types spanning the Neotropic and Oceanian realms. Populations are also found in montane and highland environments at higher elevations.

Range

Distributed across Colombia and Ecuador. Currently classified as Endangered on the IUCN Red List, this species faces significant conservation challenges across its range.

Common Earthball

<em>Scleroderma citrinum</em>, commonly known as the common earthball or pigskin poison puffball, is a widespread ectomycorrhizal fungus in the family Sclerodermataceae, classified as Least Concern by the IUCN. The species occurs across Asia, Europe, North America, and South America, typically found on forest floors, decomposing wood, and mineral-rich acidic soils in association with hardwood and conifer tree roots. Unlike true puffballs, <em>Scleroderma citrinum</em> is considered poisonous and should not be confused with edible species. Its thick, warty outer skin ranges from yellowish-brown to ochre and encloses a dark purplish-black spore mass that matures over time. The species plays an important ecological role as a mycorrhizal partner, forming mutualistic associations with the roots of oaks, beeches, pines, and other trees, facilitating the uptake of water and nutrients by host plants in exchange for photosynthetically derived carbon. Fruiting bodies typically emerge from late summer through autumn, releasing spores through irregular cracks or a central apical opening when mature. <em>Scleroderma citrinum</em> is a host for the parasitic fungus <em>Pseudoboletus parasiticus</em>, making it ecologically significant within forest fungal communities. Biological traits of this species remain poorly documented in the scientific literature.

Tiger

地球上最大の野生ネコ科動物で、体重が300kgを超えることもあり、ロシア極東から東南アジアにかけての森林に生息する。まだら光の中で擬態効果を持つ独特のオレンジと黒の縞模様の毛皮を持つ単独待ち伏せ型捕食者である。密猟と森林破壊により野生個体数が4,000頭未満に減少した深刻な危機（CR）種である。