Miracinonyx (American Cheetah‭)

Mih-rah-sin-oh-nix.
Published on

Benjamin Gutierrez

Vertebrate Paleontologist

Benjamin Gutierrez is a leading expert on dinosaurs, particularly the mighty theropods. His fieldwork in South America has uncovered new species and provided insights into dinosaur social structures.

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Name

Miracinonyx ‭(‬Amazing cheetah‭)‬.

Phonetic

Mih-rah-sin-oh-nix.

Named By

Classification

Chordata,‭ ‬Mammalia,‭ ‬Carnivora,‭ ‬Felidae.

Diet

Carnivore.

Species

Size

Roughly 85 centimetres high at the shoulder.

Known locations

North America.

Time Period

Throughout the Pleistocene.

Fossil representation

Many specimens are known,‭ ‬although usually of fragmentary remains.

In Depth

Further Reading

– The Cheetah: Native American. – Science 14 September 1979: Vol. 205 no. 4411 pp. 1155-1158. – Daniel B. Adams – 1979. – The Plio-Pleistocene cheetah-like cat Miracinonyx inexpectatus of North America – Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 10(4):434-454. – Blaire Van Valkenburgh, Frederick Grady & Bj�rn Kurt�n – 1990. -Evolution of the extinct Sabretooths and the American cheetah-like cat. – Current Biology 15 (15): R589–R590 – Ross Barnett, Ian Barnes, Matthew J. Phillips, Larry D. Martin, C. Richard Harington, Jennifer A. Leonard, Alan Cooper – 2005.

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