Miracinonyx

The first fossils attributed to Miracinonyx were several isolated teeth from Port Kennedy Bone Cave from Pennsylvania, dating back to the Irvingtonian age. The American paleontologist Edward Drinker Cope originally considered these to be related to the spotted hyena, and described the material as Crocuta inexpectata in 1895.[5] However, in 1899 he reclassified the specimens as Uncia inexpectata, considering them closely related to the snow leopard.[6]

More fossil material was recovered from deposits of similar age in Maryland and Arkansas, where in 1941 American paleontologist George Gaylord Simpson found them all belonging to the same animal, one he considered to be more closely related to the cougar (Puma concolor), naming the animal as Felis (Puma) inexpectata.[7]

A second species, Felis studeri, was described by D. E. Savage in 1960 based on a more complete material consisting of extensive postcranial and cranial material of the animal[8] However, a 1976 review of fossil pumas from Kurtén considered F. inexpectata and F. studeri to be the same species, with F. inexpectata having priority. The other valid species (then as Felis trumani) was described in 1969 by Orr based on a complete skull from the Late Pleistocene found in Crypt Cave, Nevada.[1]

Research into the American cheetah has been contradictory. It was originally believed to be an early cougar representative, before being reclassified in the 1970s as a close relative of the cheetah.[9] This suggested that the ancestors of the cheetah diverged from the Puma lineage in the Americas and migrated back to the Old World, a claim repeated as recently as 2006 by Johnson et al.,[10] and in 2015 by Dobrynin et al.[11] However, other research by Barnett and Faurby, through examining mitochondrial DNA and reanalyzing morphology, has suggested reversing the reclassification: the American cheetah developed cheetah-like characteristics through parallel evolution, but it is most closely related to Puma and not to the modern cheetah of Africa and Asia.[1][12][13] Moreover, Faurby notes that no Acinonyx fossils have been found in North America, and no Miracinonyx fossils elsewhere. However, O'Brien et al. (2016) posit that the supposed homoplasy between the genera is controversial, as it is asserted that is not necessarily any conclusive anatomical or genetic basis for dismissing a homologous relationship between Acinonyx and Miracinonyx.[14] The veracity of the origin of the modern cheetah is also debated; however, Miracinonyx is believed to have evolved from cougar-like ancestors, regardless of whether in the Old World or the New World.[15]

The cougar and M. trumani are believed to have split from a cougar-like ancestor around three million years ago;[12] where M. inexpectatus fits in is unclear, although it is probably a more primitive version of M. trumani.[16]

Below is the phylogeny from Chimento and Dondas (2017) when describing the earliest known fossil record of cougars in South America. As shown here, they found Miracinonyx to be a sister taxon to Puma (though in their paper they considered the former genus to be an extinct subgenus of the latter).[17]

In 1979 Adams found these animals to be intermediates in size and morphology between cheetahs and cougars and decided to placed them in their own genus Miracinonyx. The name is a combination of the Latin "mir" (wonderful) and Acinonyx, which is a combination of the Greek for ἁκινητος (akinitos) meaning 'unmoved' or 'motionless', and ὄνυξ (onyx) meaning 'nail' or 'hoof'.[9]

It is proposed that Miracinonyx is thought to be an instance of parallel evolution with the cheetah of the Acinonyx genus, but recent studies suggest that it was not specialized in chasing like the cheetah was since it retained retractable claws that would have crippled its ability to run fast. Instead, it was more closely related to the cougar, and at least M. trumani might have employed a hunting behavior that has no modern analogues, suggesting that it running fast like the cheetah is a common misconception. Additionally, the injuries that led to the death of a sub-adult Miracinonyx according to a 2022 research article by John-Paul Michael Hodnett et. al suggest that Miracinonyx felids regularly engaged in fighting similar to the extant puma and most other cats and unlike the cheetah, where instances of cheetah individuals fighting each other are rare, further bringing doubts of convergence.[18][2][4] Miracinonyx species were larger than a modern cheetah and similar in size to a modern North American cougar. The body mass was typically around 70 kg (150 lb), with a head-and-body length of 170 cm (67 in), tail length around 92 cm (36 in), and shoulder height of 85 cm (33 in).[19] Large specimens could have weighed more than 95 kg (209 lb).[20] Miracinonyx most likely preyed on mountain goats (Oreamnus americanus), horses (Equus sp.) and especially pronghorns (Antilocapra americana), which still exhibit morphological adaptations to outrun Miracinonyx.[21][22][23][24]

Fossils from Arizona show that American cheetahs were territorial animals, with evidence of pathologies being found on some of the bones.[25][26][27]

M. inexpectatus, ranging from the Blancan to Irvingtonian ages, was more similar to the modern cheetah in build and likely lived in more open plains, due to these features, the animal likely hunted members of Antilocapra (such as the modern pronghorn) as well as the extinct Tetrameryx and Stockoceros.[28] Fossil remains of M. inexpectatus found in Hamilton Cave in West Virginia show that this creature lived with and competed with other large cats like jaguars (Panthera onca) and the saber-toothed cat (Smilodon sp.).[1][29]

M. trumani, exclusive to the Rancholabrean age, lived in much more mountainous areas, such as the Grand Canyon. This animal was also more cougar-like, so its diet would have consisted of bighorn sheep and mountain goats.[4]

Artist's reconstruction of M. inexpectatus

Fossil remains of Miracinonyx have been found across the United States and as far south as Mexico.[30] Fossils of M. trumani have been found in Arizona,[31][32] New Mexico, Florida, Wyoming,[33] Colorado,[34] Nebraska, South Carolina,[35] Maryland, and Pennsylvania.[36] The most complete finds of M. trumani are from the Natural Trap Cave in northern Wyoming.[37]

Fossils of M. inexpectatus have also been found in Florida,[38][39][40] Texas,[41] Colorado, Georgia,[35] South Carolina,[35][42] Pennsylvania, Maryland,[43] and California.[44][45] In 2022, the skeletal remains of a M. inexpectatus were retrieved from a cave in southwestern Virginia.[46]