For decades, scientists thought North America had a cheetah; DNA links it to pumas 2.6M years ago

Representative Image (AI-generated) Its appearance told one story; its DNA tells another. For decades, the extinct Miracinonyx trumani was known as the “American cheetah” because its long legs, slender body and adaptations for speed made it look remarkably similar to Africa’s modern cheetahs. But a new genetic study has overturned that long-held picture. Published in Current Biology, the research used ancient DNA from fossil remains to show that M. trumani was actually a close relative of the modern puma, with the two lineages diverging about 2.6 million years ago. The study also reveals that some of these supposedly cheetah-like cats had a surprising diet, with northern populations apparently eating fish in the Arctic.The “American cheetah” was not actually a cheetahMiracinonyx trumani lived across parts of North America during the Pleistocene, with evidence placing the species from roughly 2.5 million to 16,000 years ago. Fossils showed that it had a body built for running, including long limbs and a relatively slender frame. Those characteristics led scientists to compare it with the modern cheetah, and the nickname “American cheetah” became widely used. The new genetic evidence...