DNA traces evolution of extinct sabertooths and the American cheetah-like cat
By performing sequence analysis of ancient DNA, a team of researchers has obtained data that help clarify our view of the evolutionary relationships shared by the large predatory cats that once roamed the prehistoric New World.
The work is reported in the August 9 issue of Current Biology by Ross Barnett of the University of Oxford and a team of researchers from Britain, Canada, the United States, Sweden, and Australia.
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The phylogenetic tree drawn from the new data also shows that the American cheetah-like cat is genetically most closely related to the puma, rather than to the true African cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus). Miracinonyx and the true cheetah Acinonyx show remarkable morphological similarity, including elongated limbs and enlarged nares, but the genetic data indicate that this similarity is in fact a marvellous example of evolutionary parallelism, the development of similar body plans in response to similar ecological pressures. In light of the new DNA data and fossil information from other studies, it appears likely that a puma-like ancestor that migrated to the New World may have given rise to Miracinonyx and ancestral Puma a few million years ago, around the time that the North American prairie is thought to have undergone expansion.
Read more here.
With the proposal to reintroduce the cheetah and other 'megafauna' to NorAm, the fact that our cheetah has little or nothing in common other than niche might be another wrinkle in their plan.
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