New research led by scientists at the University of California, Santa Cruz, is reshaping what is known about Miracinonyx trumani, the extinct North American predator commonly called the American cheetah. Evidence from nuclear paleogenomes and stable isotopes shows that the animal was not actually a cheetah. Instead, it was a highly adaptable close relative of the puma, and populations living in the far north appear to have relied heavily on fish to survive in Arctic environments.
The findings, published on September 4 in Current Biology, also extend the known range of the species by about 20 degrees of latitude farther north than scientists had previously recognized. In places such as Wyoming and Florida, M. trumani lived as a generalist predator in temperate grasslands. In the Arctic Yukon, however, the cats occupied a very different ecological role as tertiary consumers and likely specialized in anadromous fish such as salmon.
Adult Miracinonyx trumani are thought to have weighed about 150 pounds on average, stood roughly 3 feet tall, and measured around 8 feet from head to the tip of the tail. Their slim bodies and long front legs may have helped them travel efficiently through the open landscapes of Pleistocene North America. Although their proportions resembled those of modern cheetahs, growing evidence suggests these cats were much more versatile hunters, able to chase prey on land while also using powerful forelimbs to grab and hold it.
