Research overview: the two species of Miracinonyx

This overview surveys the two recognized species of the American cheetah-like cat, Miracinonyx trumani and Miracinonyx inexpectatus. Miracinonyx trumani is the more derived, strongly cursorial form, with limb proportions and skull features closely paralleling those of the living cheetah, and is best known from open-country sites in the western United States. Miracinonyx inexpectatus is somewhat more puma-like and less specialized for running, possibly retaining greater climbing ability. The survey reviews how the two species are distinguished anatomically, their respective distributions and habitats across Pleistocene North America, and what their differences reveal about the evolutionary trajectory from a puma-like ancestor toward extreme cursoriality. It discusses how the pair illustrates a New World experiment in cheetah-like predation that arose independently of the Old World cheetah lineage.