The American “Cheetah” Wasn’t a Cheetah at All

American cheetah roamed the Yukon 31,000 years ago, study finds

Ancient DNA shows Yukon fossils belonged to an Arctic‑adapted American cheetah

The American “cheetah” wasn’t a cheetah at all

The extinct “American cheetah” was not really a cheetah at all, but a puma relative with an unexpectedly flexible lifestyle. Fossils from the Yukon suggest northern populations survived partly by eating fish, possibly including salmon, while southern cats hunted on land.

Biologists Were Wrong About the “American Cheetah” According to New Genetic Findings

The extinct American cheetah wasn’t a true cheetah at all, say biologists in new research overturning scientific understanding of the big cat.

The American Cheetah Was No Cheetah At All

When you think of extinct North American cats, you think of Smilodon and related saber-toothed cats. But there's also Miracinonyx trumani, often referred to as the "American cheetah." They looked like cheetahs, with long legs and long bodies built for chasing prey. But a new study that involved nuclear paleogenomes and stable isotopes found in fossils that are 23,000 to 31,000 years old found that these cats have no relation at all to African ch…