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12 summaries in Paleontology & Fossil Felids on miracinonyx
Evolution of the extinct Sabretooths and the American cheetah-like cat
PaperThis study recovered ancient DNA from extinct North American cats, including the scimitar-toothed Homotherium and the cheetah-like Miracinonyx, to test their relationships against living felids. The g…
Ross Barnett, Ian Barnes, Matthew J. Phillips, Larry D. Martin, C. Richard Harington, Jennifer A. Leonard, Alan Cooper · Current Biology · 2005
Research overview: Miracinonyx and the pronghorn ghost-predator hypothesis
OverviewThis overview examines the influential idea that the extraordinary running speed of the American pronghorn evolved as a response to predation by the extinct cheetah-like cat Miracinonyx. The pronghorn…
Research overview: Natural Trap Cave and its Ice Age carnivores
OverviewThis overview describes Natural Trap Cave in Wyoming, a deep sinkhole that acted as a pitfall for Pleistocene animals and accumulated a rich fossil assemblage including the American lion, the cheetah-…
Research overview: big cats in the Quaternary megafaunal extinctions
OverviewThis overview surveys the disappearance of numerous large cats, including Smilodon, Homotherium, the American lion, the cave lion, and Miracinonyx, as part of the broader late Quaternary megafaunal ex…
Research overview: biogeography of the cheetah lineage across continents
OverviewThis overview examines the evolutionary geography of the cheetah lineage and its New World relatives. Molecular and fossil evidence indicate that the cheetah-puma group has a complex transatlantic his…
Research overview: cave records of Miracinonyx in the American West
OverviewThis overview surveys the cave and sinkhole deposits that have yielded the best-preserved remains of Miracinonyx, including material from caves in the Grand Canyon region and pitfall sites such as Nat…
Research overview: convergence and the puma affinity of Miracinonyx
OverviewThis overview examines the evolutionary relationships of Miracinonyx and the now well-supported conclusion that its cheetah-like form arose through convergence rather than common ancestry with the tru…
Research overview: cursorial adaptations in the American cheetah-like cat
OverviewThis overview surveys the postcranial anatomy of Miracinonyx and the adaptations for high-speed running that earned it the cheetah-like label. Especially in Miracinonyx trumani, the limbs are elongate…
Research overview: skull form and respiratory adaptation in Miracinonyx
OverviewThis overview surveys the cranial features of Miracinonyx that parallel those of the living cheetah, particularly modifications associated with high-speed running. Like Acinonyx, the more cursorial Mi…
Research overview: the fossil record of the puma lineage in the Americas
OverviewThis overview surveys the fossil history of the puma lineage, the New World group that includes the living puma and jaguarundi and is closely tied to the extinct American cheetah-like cat Miracinonyx.…
Research overview: the two species of Miracinonyx
OverviewThis 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, w…
The cheetah: native American?
PaperThis influential paper argued that the modern cheetah lineage had deep roots in the New World, drawing attention to the extinct North American cheetah-like cats now placed in the genus Miracinonyx. Ad…
Daniel B. Adams · Science · 1979