Ancient 'American Cheetah' Reclassified as Puma Relative With Regional Diets
New DNA and isotopic analyses of Miracinonyx trumani show it wasn't a cheetah but a sister species to the modern puma, with two distinct populations: a northern, pescatarian-adapted group and a southern, more typical carnivore group. The findings extend its known range by about 20 degrees latitude and reveal flexible predation and circadian adaptations, with the lineage declining as climate changed at the end of the last ice age.
