ANCIENT DNA REVEALS AMERICAN CHEETAH WAS PUMA RELATIVE

A comprehensive analysis of ancient DNA has shown that Miracinonyx trumani, known as the "American cheetah," was not a cheetah at all but a sister species to the modern puma. The finding emerged from paleogenomic analysis of four fossil specimens conducted by researchers including Molly Cassatt-Johnstone, a paleogenomicist at the University of California, Santa Cruz, who led the study. The research was published in the journal Current Biology. The specimens analysed included one from Wyoming dated to approximately 23,000 years ago and three from the Yukon in the Canadian Arctic dated to more than 30,000 years ago.

Miracinonyx trumani had long been classified as an American version of the African cheetah, Acinonyx jubatus, based on shared physical traits including slender builds, long limbs and enlarged nasal passages designed to increase oxygen intake during pursuit. These anatomical similarities led earlier researchers to assume an evolutionary relationship between the species. The new genetic evidence contradicts this classification, revealing instead a distinct evolutionary lineage linking the American species more closely to modern pumas, Puma concolor. According to Cassatt-Johnstone, the cats exhibited dietary flexibility comparable to that of contemporary pumas across their current range.

The research demonstrates how genetic analysis can reveal the complexity of prehistoric species that comparisons to modern animals alone may obscure. Cassatt-Johnstone noted that reconstructing extinct species through comparison to known animals risks limiting understanding of their unique evolutionary histories and behaviours. The study adds to broader knowledge of Pleistocene megafauna that inhabited North America between approximately 2.58 million and 11,700 years ago, a period marked by significant climate shifts and animal migrations.