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New DNA Evidence Reveals American Cheetah Was Not a Cheetah
Confirmed
In Short: Scientists have reclassified the American cheetah, Miracinonyx trumani, based on new genetic findings, challenging previous beliefs about its evolutionary lineage.
New DNA evidence has revealed that the American cheetah, Miracinonyx trumani, was not a cheetah at all, but more closely related to modern pumas, according to a study published in the journal Current Biology. This finding, which contradicts previous classifications, suggests that the American cheetah's evolutionary history is more complex than previously thought. 'These results ask us to look more closely for evidence of links connecting the Mississippian world to the Hohokam and Ancestral Pueblo of the Southwest,' wrote King and his colleagues in their study.
The genetic analysis of M. trumani's mitochondrial DNA, first sequenced in 2005, showed that the species was more closely related to pumas than to cheetahs. 'Pumas are a new world lineage; they are found in the Americas. Cheetahs are old world, so in Asia and Africa, and so there would have had to have been a migration event if they were most closely related to cheetahs,' explained Cassatt-Johnstone. The findings published today confirm that this cat was not only far less cheetah-like than scientists once believed but also likely has no modern analog.
Originally identified as coming from a puma, genetic tests on the bones revealed that they actually belonged to the American cheetah. The study found that the American cheetah DNA sat very firmly with the puma, with the species last sharing an ancestor with the modern cheetah some 4.7 million years ago, but only diverging from the pumas around 2.6 million years ago. This divergence raises questions about the American cheetah's diet and hunting habits, with fossil evidence suggesting that the cat's diet included fish such as salmon and pike, challenging the notion that it was primarily a pronghorn hunter.
What's confirmed
- New DNA evidence has revealed that the American cheetah, Miracinonyx trumani, was not a cheetah at all, but more closely related to modern pumas, according to a study published in the journal Current Biology. This finding, which contradicts previous classifications, suggests that the American cheetah's evolutionary history is more complex than previously thought. 'These results ask us to look more closely for evidence of links connecting the Mississippian world to the Hohokam and Ancestral Pueblo of the Southwest,' wrote King and his colleagues in their study.
- The genetic analysis of M. trumani's mitochondrial DNA, first sequenced in 2005, showed that the species was more closely related to pumas than to cheetahs. 'Pumas are a new world lineage; they are found in the Americas. Cheetahs are old world, so in Asia and Africa, and so there would have had to have been a migration event if they were most closely related to cheetahs,' explained Cassatt-Johnstone. The findings published today confirm that this cat was not only far less cheetah-like than scientists once believed but also likely has no modern analog.
- Originally identified as coming from a puma, genetic tests on the bones revealed that they actually belonged to the American cheetah. The study found that the American cheetah DNA sat very firmly with the puma, with the species last sharing an ancestor with the modern cheetah some 4.7 million years ago, but only diverging from the pumas around 2.6 million years ago. This divergence raises questions about the American cheetah's diet and hunting habits, with fossil evidence suggesting that the cat's diet included fish such as salmon and pike, challenging the notion that it was primarily a pronghorn hunter.
What's still developing
- “Reconstructing their diet was really surprising, and I think really shows that these cats—like other living cats or other living species today—are incredibly flexible,” Cassatt-Johnstone said.
- Miracinonyx trumani, an extinct big cat commonly known as the American cheetah, lived in North America during the Pleistocene.
- Its nickname comes from its resemblance to modern cheetahs, including physical traits suited for high-speed pursuit.
- When the American cheetah was first named and officially described in 1979, fossil evidence pointed to its strong convergent morphology, or shared features, with modern cheetahs.
- If the cheetahs had evolved in lockstep with the pronghorns, this then raised the question of what they were eating in Alaska.
- But scientists’ understanding of this ancient predator has changed in recent years, and now, researchers have uncovered surprising new details about the species.