Julie Meachen, PhD, professor of anatomy at Des Moines University Medicine and Health Sciences, recently published two studies on the American cheetah-like cat, Miracinonyx trumani.
In Current Biology, Meachen was an author on the paper, “Paleogenomics Reveals Arctic Range and Local Dietary Specialization in the American ‘Cheetah,’ Miracinonyx trumani,” which provides unprecedented genetic insight into the American cheetah-like cat.
Meachen and her colleagues collected nuclear DNA from the species in northern Wyoming and the Yukon in Canada, where it had not previously been known to exist. One of the study’s most significant findings is the stark ecological difference between the two populations. In Wyoming, where the environment is dry, open and arid, the American cheetah hunted bighorn sheep, pronghorn antelope and horses. In the lush, green habitat of the Yukon, however, it appears to have eaten only fish.
“It’s really interesting that the same species was living in such different environments and behaving so differently,” Meachen says.
The researchers also determined when the Wyoming and Yukon populations diverged and found that both maintained relatively small population sizes over time.
“People know about low genetic variation in African cheetahs, but it turns out low genetic variation and small effective population size may actually be the norm for these kinds of large solitary cats,” Meachen says.
A second paper, recently published in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, expanded the American cheetah’s known fossil range. Researchers, including two DMU Master of Science in Anatomy students, found evidence that the species also lived in Mexico.
Together, the two studies confirm that American cheetahs ranged from Mexico to the Yukon, nearly reaching the Arctic Circle. Previously, the species was known only from midcontinental North America. The findings paint a much broader picture of the species’ distribution across the continent.
“One of the things I love about paleontology is that it gives you a window into a world that doesn’t exist anymore,” Meachen says. “This animal is an example of the incredible diversity we once had in North America. We should care about diversity because diversity is what makes ecosystems work.”
Ecosystems include the crops farmers grow, the insects that pollinate them and the natural processes that keep soil healthy.
“If we lose diversity, those systems become less stable,” Meachen says. “Understanding what diversity looked like in the past helps us understand what we need to preserve today. The American cheetah itself may not matter directly to anyone’s life now, but what it teaches us about biodiversity absolutely does.”