Miracinonyx Explained

Miracinonyx (colloquially known as the "American cheetah") is an extinct genus of felids belonging to the subfamily Felinae that was endemic to North America from the Pleistocene epoch (about 2.5 million to 16,000 years ago) and morphologically similar to the modern cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus), although its apparent similar ecological niches have been considered questionable due to anatomical morphologies of the former that would have limited the ability to act as a specialized pursuit predator.[1] [2] The genus was originally known from fragments of skeletons, but nearly complete skeletons have been recovered from Natural Trap Cave in northern Wyoming.[3]

The two species commonly identified are M. inexpectatus and M. trumani. Sometimes, a third species, M. studeri, is included, but it is more often listed as a junior synonym of M. inexpectatus. M. inexpectatus ranged from the Blancan to Irvingtonian ages of North America while M. trumani was exclusive to the Rancholabrean age.[1] [4]

Discovery and naming

The first fossils attributed to Miracinonyx were several isolated teeth from Port Kennedy Bone Cave from Pennsylvania, dating back to the Irvingtonian age. The American paleontologist Edward Drinker Cope originally considered these to be related to the spotted hyena, and described the material as Crocuta inexpectata in 1895.[5] However, in 1899 he reclassified the specimens as Uncia inexpectata, considering them closely related to the snow leopard.[6]

More fossil material was recovered from deposits of similar age in Maryland and Arkansas, where in 1941 American paleontologist George Gaylord Simpson found them all belonging to the same animal, one he considered to be more closely related to the cougar (Puma concolor), naming the animal as Felis (Puma) inexpectata.[7]

A second species, Felis studeri, was described by D. E. Savage in 1960 based on a more complete material consisting of extensive postcranial and cranial material of the animal.[8] However, a 1976 review of fossil pumas from Kurtén considered F. inexpectata and F. studeri to be the same species, with F. inexpectata having priority. The other valid species (then as Felis trumani) was described in 1969 by Orr based on a complete skull from the Late Pleistocene found in Crypt Cave, Nevada.[1]

Taxonomy and evolution

Research into the American cheetah has been contradictory. It was originally believed to be an early cougar representative, before being reclassified in the 1970s as a close relative of the cheetah.[9] This suggested that the ancestors of the cheetah diverged from the Puma lineage in the Americas and migrated back to the Old World, a claim repeated as recently as,[10] and by [11] However, other research by Barnett and Faurby, through examining mitochondrial DNA and reanalyzing morphology, has suggested reversing the reclassification: the American cheetah developed cheetah-like characteristics through parallel evolution, but it is most closely related to Puma and not to the modern cheetah of Africa and Asia.[1] [12] [13] Moreover, Faurby notes that no Acinonyx fossils have been found in North America, and no Miracinonyx fossils elsewhere. However, posit that the supposed homoplasy between the genera is controversial, as it is asserted that is not necessarily any conclusive anatomical or genetic basis for dismissing a homologous relationship between Acinonyx and Miracinonyx.[14] The veracity of the origin of the modern cheetah is also debated; however, Miracinonyx is believed to have evolved from cougar-like ancestors, regardless of whether in the Old World or the New World.[15]

The cougar and M. trumani are believed to have split from a cougar-like ancestor around three million years ago;[12] where M. inexpectatus fits in is unclear, although it is probably a more primitive version of M. trumani.[16]

Below is the phylogeny from when describing the earliest known fossil record of cougars in South America. As shown here, they found Miracinonyx to be a sister taxon to Puma (though in their paper they considered the former genus to be an extinct subgenus of the latter).[17]

found these animals to be intermediates in size and morphology between cheetahs and cougars and decided to place them in their own genus Miracinonyx.[9]

The name is a combination of the Latin Latin: mīrus ("wonderful") and Acinonyx, the cheetah family, itself a combination of the Greek meaning "unmoved" or "motionless" and meaning "nail" or "hoof".[9]

Description

It has been proposed that Miracinonyx is an instance of parallel evolution with the cheetah of the Acinonyx genus. Recent studies, however, suggest that it was not specialized in chasing like the cheetah, as it retained retractable claws and was more robust, which would have diminished its ability to run fast compared to african cheetah.[18] Instead, it was more closely related to the cougar, and while M. trumani might have employed a hunting behavior without modern analogue, it may not have relied on speed as a cheetah does. Additionally, the injuries that led to the death of a sub-adult Miracinonyx according to a 2022 research article by John-Paul Michael Hodnett et al suggest that Miracinonyx felids, like extant cats such as the puma, regularly fought one another; instances of conspecific aggression among Acinonyx cheetahs are relatively rare.[2] [4] [19] Miracinonyx species were also larger than a modern cheetah and similar in size to a modern North American cougar. The body mass was typically around, with a head-and-body length of, tail length around, and shoulder height of .[20] Large specimens could have weighed more than .[21] Miracinonyx most likely preyed on mountain goats (Oreamnus americanus), horses (Equus sp.) and especially pronghorns (Antilocapra americana), which still exhibit morphological adaptations to outrun Miracinonyx.[22] [23] [24] [25]

Behavior

Fossils from Arizona show that American cheetahs were territorial animals, with evidence of pathologies being found on some of the bones.[26] [27] [28]

M. inexpectatus, ranging from the Blancan to Irvingtonian ages, and was more similar to the cougar in build than M. trumani. Fossil remains of M. inexpectatus found in Hamilton Cave in West Virginia show that this creature lived with and competed with other large cats like jaguars (Panthera onca) and the saber-toothed cat (Smilodon sp.).[1] [29]

M. trumani, exclusive to the Rancholabrean age, was more cursorial and Cheetah-like then M. inexpectatus, however unlike cheetahs both species retained fully retractable claws.

Miracinonyx hunted cursorial prey like Antilocapra (such as the modern pronghorn) as well as the extinct Tetrameryx and Stockoceros, and horses (Equus sp.), as well as bighorn sheep and mountain goats.

Fossil distribution

Fossil remains of Miracinonyx have been found across the United States and as far south as Mexico.[30] Fossils of M. trumani have been found in Arizona,[31] [32] New Mexico, Florida, Wyoming,[33] Colorado,[34] Nebraska, South Carolina,[35] Maryland, and Pennsylvania.[36] The most complete finds of M. trumani are from the Natural Trap Cave in northern Wyoming.[37]

Fossils of M. inexpectatus have also been found in Florida,[38] [39] [40] Texas,[41] Colorado, Georgia,[35] South Carolina,[35] [42] Pennsylvania, Maryland,[43] and California.[44] [45] In 2022, the skeletal remains of a M. inexpectatus were retrieved from a cave in southwestern Virginia.[46]

Notes and References

  1. Van Valkenburgh . Blaire . Grady . Frederick . Kurtén . Björn . 1990 . The Plio-Pleistocene Cheetah-Like Cat Miracinonyx inexpectatus of North America . Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology . 10 . 4 . 434–454 . 1990JVPal..10..434V . 10.1080/02724634.1990.10011827 . 0272-4634 . 4523343.
  2. Figueirido . Borja . Pérez-Ramos . Alejandro . Hotchner . Anthony . Lovelace . David . Pastor . Francisco J. . Martín-Serra . Alberto . 2023 . Elbow-joint morphology in the North American 'cheetah-like' cat Miracinonyx trumani . Biology Letters . 19 . 1 . 10.1098/rsbl.2022.0483 . 9873470 . 36693427.
  3. Web site: Late Pleistocene, paleoecology and large mammal taphonomy, Natural Trap Cave, Wyoming. National Geographic Research & Exploration. 1993. 2017-06-20.
  4. Michael Hodnett. John Paul. White. Richard S.. Carpenter. Mary C.. Mead. Jim I.. Santucci. Vincent L.. 2022. Miracinonyx Trumani (Carnivora; Felidae) from the Rancholabrean of the Grand Canyon, Arizona and its Implications for the Ecology of the "American Cheetah". Late Cenozoic Vertebrate Paleontology.
  5. Cope . Edward D. . 1895 . The fossil vertebrata from the fissure at Port Kennedy, Pa. . Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia . 47. 446–450 . 4061990 .
  6. Cope . Edward D. . 1899 . Vertebrate remains from Port Kennedy bone deposit . Journal of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia . 11 . 2 .
  7. Simpson . George Gaylord . 1941 . Large Pleistocene felines of North America . American Museum Novitates . 1136 . The American Museum of Natural History.
  8. Savage . Donald E. . 1960 . A Survey of Various Late Cenozoic Vertebrate Faunas of the Panhandle of Texas: Felidae . University of California Press.
  9. Daniel B. . Adams . 14 September 1979 . The Cheetah: Native American . . 205 . 4411 . 1155–1158 . 10.1126/science.205.4411.1155 . 17735054. 1979Sci...205.1155A . 17951039 .
  10. Johnson . W.E. . Eizirik . E. . Pecon-Slattery . J. . Murphy . W.J. . Antunes . A. . Teeling . E. . O'Brien . S.J. . 6 January 2006 . The Late Miocene radiation of modern Felidae: A genetic assessment . . 311 . 5757 . 73–77 . 10.1126/science.1122277 . 16400146. 2006Sci...311...73J. 41672825.
  11. Dobrynin . Pavel . Liu . Shiping . Tamazian. Gaik . Xiong . Zijun . Yurchenko. Andrey A. . Krasheninnikova . Ksenia . Kliver . Sergey . Schmidt-Küntzel . Anne . Koepfli . Klaus-Peter . 2015-01-01 . Genomic legacy of the African cheetah, Acinonyx jubatus . . 16 . 277 . 10.1186/s13059-015-0837-4 . free . 1474-7596 . 4676127 . 26653294 .
  12. Barnett . Ross . Barnes . Ian . Phillips . Matthew J. . Martin . Larry D. . Harington . C. Richard . Leonard . Jennifer A. . Cooper . Alan . 9 August 2005 . Evolution of the extinct sabretooths and the American cheetah-like cat . . 15 . 15 . R589–R590 . 10.1016/j.cub.2005.07.052 . 16085477 . 17665121 . free . 2005CBio...15.R589B .
  13. Faurby . S. . Werdelin . L. . Svenning . J.C. . 2016-05-05 . The difference between trivial and scientific names: There were never any true cheetahs in North America . Genome Biology . 17 . 89 . 10.1186/s13059-016-0943-y . free . 1474-7596 . 4858926 . 27150269 .
  14. O'Brien . Stephen J. . Koepfli . Klaus Peter . Eizirik . Eduardo . Johnson . Warren . Driscoll . Carlos . Antunes . Agostinho . Schmidt-Kuntzel . Anne . Marker . Laurie . Dobrynin . Pavel . 2016-01-01 . Response to comment by Faurby, Werdelin and Svenning. Genome Biology . 17 . 90 . 10.1186/s13059-016-0942-z . free . 1474-760X. 4858819 . 27150130 .
  15. Figueirido . Borja . Pérez-Ramos . Alejandro . Hotchner . Anthony . Lovelace . David M. . Pastor . Francisco J. . Palmqvist . Paul . 2022-12-22 . The brain of the North American cheetah-like cat Miracinonyx trumani . iScience . en . 25 . 12 . 105671 . 10.1016/j.isci.2022.105671 . 36536677 . 9758517 . 2022iSci...25j5671F . 2589-0042.
  16. Web site: Haaramo . Mikko . 2005-11-15 . Felinae – small cats . Felidae . Mikko's phylogeny archive . 2007-02-20 . https://web.archive.org/web/20070327125023/http://www.fmnh.helsinki.fi/users/haaramo/Metazoa/deuterostoma/Chordata/Synapsida/Eutheria/Carnivora/Aeluroidea/Felinae.htm . 2007-03-27 .
  17. Chimento . N.R. . Dondas . A. . 2017 . First record of Puma concolor (Mammalia, Felidae) in the Early-Middle Pleistocene of South America . Journal of Mammalian Evolution . 25 . 3 . 381–389 . 10.1007/s10914-017-9385-x . 16249074.
  18. Book: Van Valkenburg . Blaire . Pang . Benison . Cherin . Marco . Rook . Lorenzo . 2018 . Academic Press . 978-0-12-804120-8 . Marker . Laurie . 25–32 . en . The Cheetah: The Evolutionary History and Paleoecology . K. Boast . Lorraine . Schmidt-Kuntzel . Anne . https://books.google.com/books?id=H3rXDgAAQBAJ&dq=info%3AnCh_rvNOFsEJ%3Ascholar.google.com%2F&pg=PA27.
  19. Figueirido . Borja . Pérez-Ramos . Alejandro . Hotchner . Anthony . Lovelace . David M. . Pastor . Francisco J. . Palmqvist . Paul . 2022 . The brain of the North American cheetah-like cat Miracinonyx trumani . iScience . 25 . 12 . 105671 . 2022iSci...25j5671F . 10.1016/j.isci.2022.105671 . 9758517 . 36536677.
  20. Web site: July 2010 . Extinct American Cheetah, Miracinonyx inexpectatus . https://web.archive.org/web/20160304023142/http://library.sandiegozoo.org/factsheets/_extinct/cheetah1_american/cheetah1_american.html . 2016-03-04 . 2013-12-02 . San Diego Zoo factsheet.
  21. Book: Caro, T.M. . Tim Caro . Cheetahs of the Serengeti Plains: Group Living in an Asocial Species . University of Chicago Press . 1994 . 978-0-226-09433-5 . Chicago . 500.
  22. Higgins . Pennilyn . Meachen . Julie . Lovelace . David . 2023-02-20 . Were pronghorns (Antilocapra) primary prey for North American cheetahs (Miracinonyx)? . Quaternary International . Natural Trap Cave, Wyoming, U.S.A. Records a Detailed Faunal, Floral, aDNA, Isotopic, and Geologic Record of the Late Quaternary . en . 647-648 . 81–87 . 2023QuInt.647...81H . 10.1016/j.quaint.2022.08.003 . 1040-6182 . 251700435. free .
  23. Web site: Black . Riley . 2013-01-08 . Did False Cheetahs Give Pronghorn a Need for Speed? . https://web.archive.org/web/20210323104208/https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/did-false-cheetahs-give-pronghorn-a-need-for-speed . dead . March 23, 2021 . 2023-02-12 . Science . en.
  24. News: Yoon . Carol Kaesuk . 1996-12-24 . Pronghorn's Speed May Be Legacy of Past Predators . en-US . The New York Times . 2023-02-12 . 0362-4331.
  25. Barnett . Ross . Barnes . Ian . Phillips . Matthew J. . Martin . Larry D. . Harington . C. Richard . Leonard . Jennifer A. . Cooper . Alan . 2005-08-09 . Evolution of the extinct Sabretooths and the American cheetah-like cat . Current Biology . en . 15 . 15 . R589–R590 . 10.1016/j.cub.2005.07.052 . 0960-9822 . 16085477 . 17665121. free . 2005CBio...15.R589B .
  26. Web site: Pappas . Stephanie . 2022-05-25 . 20,000 years ago, two American cheetahs fought to the death in a Grand Canyon cave . 2023-02-13 . livescience.com . en.
  27. Web site: The big cat scan: modern radiology meets an extinct American cheetah . 2023-02-13 . news.wisc.edu . en-US.
  28. Web site: 2022-06-22 . Earth Notes: Ancient Cheetahs in the Grand Canyon . 2023-02-13 . KNAU Arizona Public Radio . en.
  29. The microtine rodents of the Cheetah Room fauna, Hamilton Cave, West Virginia, and the spontaneous origin of Synaptomys . 1988 . 10.3133/b1853. free .
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  31. Web site: American Cheetah Fossil (U.S. National Park Service). 2021-09-13. www.nps.gov. en.
  32. Book: editor., Baskin, Jon A., editor. Czaplewski, Nicholas J., editor. Lucas, Spencer G., editor. McDonald, H. Gregory (Hugh Gregory), 1951- editor. Mead, Jim I., editor. White, Richard S. Jr., editor. Lichtig, Asher J. . Late Cenozoic vertebrates from the American Southwest: a tribute to Arthur H. Harris . 2022 . New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science . 1350541559.
  33. Martin . L.D.. Gilbert . B.M.. Adams . D.B.. 1977 . A Cheetah-Like Cat in the North American Pleistocene . Science . 195 . 4282. 981–982 . 10.1126/science.195.4282.981. 17735673 . 1977Sci...195..981M . 38895439.
  34. Emslie. S.D.. 1986 . Late Pleistocene vertebrates from Gunnison County, Colorado . Journal of Paleontology . 60 . 1 . 170–176 . 10.1017/s0022336000021612. 1986JPal...60..170E . 129010079 .
  35. Sanders. A.E.. 2002. Additions to the Pleistocene Mammal Faunas of South Carolina, North Carolina, and Georgia . Transactions of the American Philosophical Society . 92 . 5 . i . 10.2307/4144916 . 4144916.
  36. Web site: Autin. B. . LibGuides: Extinct American Cheetahs (Miracinonyx spp.) Fact Sheet: Distribution & Habitat. 2021-08-29. ielc.libguides.com. en.
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  44. Web site: Fossil history of the panther (Puma concolor) and the cheetah-like cat (Miracinonyx inexpectatus) in Florida. 2021-08-25. ufdc.ufl.edu.
  45. Trayler . Robin B. . Dundas . Robert G. . Fox-Dobbs . Kena . Van De Water . Peter K. . 2015-11-01 . Inland California during the Pleistocene—Megafaunal stable isotope records reveal new paleoecological and paleoenvironmental insights . Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology . en . 437 . 132–140 . 10.1016/j.palaeo.2015.07.034 . 2015PPP...437..132T . 0031-0182.
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