Acinonychini

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Acinonychini
Temporal range: Late Miocene - Holocene, 6.7–0  Ma
8th Place - Mountain Lion (7487178290).jpg
Cougar (Puma concolor)
Cheetah Umfolozi SouthAfrica MWegmann.jpg
Cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus)
Scientific classification Red Pencil Icon.png
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Carnivora
Suborder: Feliformia
Family: Felidae
Subfamily: Felinae
Tribe: Acinonychini
Pocock, 1917
Genera

Herpailurus Severtzov, 1858
† Miracinonyx Adams, 1979
Puma Jardine, 1834
† Sivapanthera Kretzoi, 1929
Acinonyx Brookes, 1828

The feline tribe Acinonychini contains three genera, each with one extant species: the cougar in Puma , the jaguarundi in Herpailurus , and the cheetah in Acinonyx .[ citation needed ]

In addition, a handful of extinct fossil species have been found in Eurasia and the Americas. The evolutionary relationships of these cats still needs to be worked out, with the main focus being the placement of the extinct species in relation to the extant species, and where cheetahs evolved. While cheetahs and cougars are sometimes considered big cats, as felines, they are more closely related to the smaller species (including domestic cats), than they are to pantherines such as lions and leopards.[ citation needed ]

Systematics

Extant species

Prior to the mid-1990s, the cheetahs were placed in the monotypic subfamily Acinonychinae due to their anatomical specializations for their cursorial nature. Both the cougar and jaguarundi were classified in the genus Felis along with most of the purring cats. In the 1990s, the first molecular evidence based on mitochondrial DNA, nuclear DNA and chromosomal data found that the cheetah is nested among the purring cats, with cougars and jaguarundis their closest relatives. [1] [2] [3] As a result, cougars and jaguarundis were reclassified in the genus Puma and Acinonychinae is recognized as a junior synonym of Felinae. [4] More advanced molecular studies based on genomic data has found strong support for this grouping. According to the current data, acinonychins diverged from other cats around 6.7 million years ago. The cheetah was the first to diverge from Puma around 4.9 million years ago. From there the cougar and jaguarundi split off 4 million years ago. [5] [6] [7] In addition to the molecular work, various morphological studies that focused on the cranium have supported the relationship between Puma and Acinonyx. [8] [9] While the jaguarundi is classified in the genus Puma, the species differs from cougars due to size and anatomical differences, which results in some authors placing them in their own genus, Herpailurus. [10]

Below is a phylogeny of the extant species.

Acinonychini
 

Cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus) Lydekker - Hunting Leopard.JPG

 
 
 

Jaguarundi (Herpailurus yagouaroundi) A handbook to the carnivora (9597644515).jpg

 
 

Cougar (Puma concolor) Lydekker - Puma.JPG

 
 
 

Extinct species

Cranium of Puma pardoides Puma schaubi.JPG
Cranium of Puma pardoides

The fossil record of cheetahs and pumas is relatively well known, though there have been times of uncertainty and misplacing species in different genera. For example, the extinct Puma pardoides was originally classified as two separate species of fossil leopards, Panthera pardoides and Panthera schaubi. It became apparent that two species were the same animal, and, based on features in the skull, that the species was more closely related to the cougar. [11] [12] This is also the oldest known member of the genus Puma with specimens found in the Pliocene-Pleistocene boundary lines in Western Europe. [13] This suggests that Puma first appeared in Eurasia and then have migrated at some point in the Americas to diversify into the two extant species 4 million years ago. In 2015, scientists found that the extinct Puma pumoides was an intermediate species between the cougar and the jaguarundi, being an animal that was closer to body size of the former species but anatomically closer to the latter species. [14]

Cranium of the giant cheetah Acinonyx pardinensis or Sivapanthera pardinensis Acinonyx pardinensis 1.JPG
Cranium of the giant cheetah Acinonyx pardinensis or Sivapanthera pardinensis

The extinct cheetah genus Sivapanthera has occasionally been considered to be a junior synonym of Acinonyx as the two genera are nearly identical, barring the robust, stout, and larger body size of Sivapanthera. [15] [16] Fossil cheetahs of both Sivapanthera and Acinonyx have been found in Africa and Eurasia. The number of recognized cheetah species that existed varies among scientists from two to six, possibly eleven species. [17] [18]

Perhaps the most controversial among the acinonychines are the so-called "American cheetahs" of the extinct genus Miracinonyx . There were two species of American cheetahs, M. trumani and M. inexpectatus. Initially thought to be closely related to Puma, in the 1970s researchers had placed Miracinonyx as either a subgenus of Acinonyx or a distinct genus related to cheetahs. This was based on similarities on in the skull and jaw structure, and the arrangement of the teeth. It was then postulated that cheetahs had originated from North America and migrated to Eurasia and Africa. [19] More complete specimens discovered in 1990, however, have shown that while Miracinonyx skull and body proportions do resemble cheetahs, the postcranial skeleton shows closer affinity to Puma and perhaps Sivapanthera. [20] A 2005 study examining mitochondrial DNA and re-analyzing morphology found that Miracinonyx is nested within Puma, as M. trumani and M. inexpectatus were found to be more closely to cougars than either of them to cheetahs. [21] A more comprehensive genomic study also strongly supported the convergence between Old World and American cheetahs. [22] This implies that Old World cheetahs and American cheetahs had undergone convergent evolution with each other and only pumas have colonized the Americas. Therefore, Puma is not a natural genus meaning that either Miracinonyx is a subgenus of Puma, or scientists would have to reevaluate P. pardoides as Viretailurus pardoides and P. pumoides and P. yagouaroundi as Herpailurus pumoides and H. yagouaroundi respectively in order to make Miracinonyx distinctive. Those who still support Miracinonyx being related to cheetahs question the strength of the molecular data, suggesting evidence of molecular homoplasy. [23]

Below is the current understanding of the phylogeny of acinonychin genera.

Acinonychini
 
 

† Sivapanthera

 
 

Acinonyx

 
 
Puma  sensu lato
 

† Viretailurus

 
 
 

Herpailurus

 
 
 

† Miracinonyx

 
 

Puma sensu stricto

 
 
 
 
 

Related Research Articles

Felidae Family of mammals

Felidae is a family of mammals in the order Carnivora, colloquially referred to as cats, and constitutes a clade. A member of this family is also called a felid. The term "cat" refers both to felids in general and specifically to the domestic cat.

Cheetah Large feline of the genus Acinonyx

The cheetah is a large cat native to Africa and central Iran. It is the fastest land animal, estimated to be capable of running at 80 to 128 km/h with the fastest reliably recorded speeds being 93 and 98 km/h, and as such has several adaptations for speed, including a light build, long thin legs and a long tail. It typically reaches 67–94 cm (26–37 in) at the shoulder, and the head-and-body length is between 1.1 and 1.5 m. Adults weigh between 20 and 65 kg. Its head is small, rounded, and has a short snout and black tear-like facial streaks. The coat is typically tawny to creamy white or pale buff and is mostly covered with evenly spaced, solid black spots. Four subspecies are recognised.

Panthera is a genus within the family Felidae that was named and described by Lorenz Oken in 1816 who placed all the spotted cats in this group. Reginald Innes Pocock revised the classification of this genus in 1916 as comprising the tiger, lion, jaguar, and leopard on the basis of common cranial features. Results of genetic analysis indicate that the snow leopard also belongs to the genus Panthera, a classification that was accepted by IUCN Red List assessors in 2008.

<i>Acinonyx</i> Genus of carnivores

Acinonyx is a genus within the cat family. The only living species of the genus, the cheetah, lives in open grasslands of Africa and Asia.

The term "big cat" is typically used to refer to any of the five living members of the genus Panthera, namely the lion, tiger, jaguar, leopard, and snow leopard, as well as the non-pantherine cheetah and cougar. Except for the latter three, these species are able to roar.

<i>Homotherium</i> Extinct genus of carnivores

Homotherium is an extinct genus of machairodontine saber-toothed cats, often termed scimitar-toothed cats, that inhabited North America, South America, Eurasia, and Africa during the Pliocene and Pleistocene epochs, existing for approximately 4 million years.

Jaguarundi Small wild cat native to the Americas

The jaguarundi is a wild cat native to the Americas. Its range extends from central Argentina in the south to northern Mexico, through Central and South America east of the Andes. The jaguarundi is a medium-sized cat of slender build. Its coloration is uniform with two color morphs, gray and red. It has an elongated body, with relatively short legs, a small, narrow head, small, round ears, a short snout, and a long tail, resembling mustelids in these respects. It is around twice as large as a domestic cat, reaching nearly 36 cm (14 in) at the shoulder, and weighs 3.5–7 kg (7.7–15.4 lb).

Metailurini is an extinct taxonomic tribe of large saber-toothed cats that lived in Africa, Asia, Europe, and North America from the Miocene to the Pleistocene.

American cheetah

The American cheetah is either of two feline species of the extinct genus Miracinonyx, endemic to North America during the Pleistocene epoch and morphologically similar to the modern cheetah. These cats were originally known from fragments of skeletons, but nearly complete skeletons have been recovered from Natural Trap Cave in northern Wyoming.

Felinae Subfamily of carnivores

The Felinae are a subfamily of the family Felidae. This subfamily comprises the small cats having a bony hyoid, because of which they are able to purr but not roar.

<i>Leopardus</i> Genus of felines native to the Americas

Leopardus is a genus comprising eight species of small cats native to the Americas. This genus is considered the oldest branch of a genetic lineage of small cats in the Americas whose common ancestor crossed the Bering land bridge from Asia to North America in the late Miocene.

Pantherinae Subfamily of felids

Pantherinae is a subfamily within the family Felidae; it was named and first described by Reginald Innes Pocock in 1917 as only including the Panthera species. The Pantherinae genetically diverged from a common ancestor between 9.32 to 4.47 million years ago and 10.67 to 3.76 million years ago.

<i>Panthera gombaszoegensis</i> Extinct European jaguar species

Panthera gombaszoegensis, also known as the European jaguar, is a Panthera species that lived from about 2.0 to 0.35 million years ago in Europe. The first fossils were excavated in 1938 in Gombasek, Slovakia.

Panthera leo fossilis is a fossil cat of the genus Panthera, which was first excavated near Mauer in Germany, and lived during the Upper Pleistocene. Bone fragments of P. l. fossilis were also excavated near Pakefield in the United Kingdom, which are estimated at 680,000 years old. Bone fragments excavated near Isernia in Italy are estimated at between 600,000 and 620,000 years old. The first Asian record of a fossilis lion was found in the Kuznetsk Basin in western Siberia and dates to the late Early Pleistocene.

<i>Puma</i> (genus) Genus of mammals

Puma is a genus in the family Felidae that contains the cougar, and may also include several poorly known Old World fossil representatives. In addition to these potential Old World fossils, a few New World fossil representatives are possible, such as Puma pumoides and the two species of the so-called "American cheetah", currently classified under the genus Miracinonyx.

Feliformia Suborder of carnivores

Feliformia is a suborder within the order Carnivora consisting of "cat-like" carnivorans, including cats, hyenas, mongooses, viverrids, and related taxa. Feliformia stands in contrast to the other suborder of Carnivora, Caniformia.

Gulf Coast jaguarundi Subspecies of carnivore

The Gulf Coast jaguarundi is a population of the jaguarundi. Two of these populations—the Gulf Coast jaguarundi and the Sinaloan jaguarundi—are considered endangered and were put on the endangered list on June 14, 1976. These cats are placed under the family Felidae and the subfamily Felinae because of their small size. As of 2017, the Cat Classification Taskforce of the Cat Specialist Group does not recognise any subspecies of jaguarundi.

<i>Puma pardoides</i> Extinct species of carnivore

Puma pardoides, sometimes called the Eurasian puma or Owen's panther, is an extinct prehistoric cat. It was long regarded as a primitive species of leopard. Recent work however has shown that Panthera pardoides and Panthera schaubi are actually the same species, and are probably not pantherine at all, but a member of Felinae related to the cougar, making them more properly classified as Puma pardoides.

Machairodontini is an extinct tribe of large saber-toothed cats of the subfamily Machairodontinae, that lived in Europe, Asia, Africa, and North America, during the late middle Miocene.

References

  1. ↑ Janczewski, D. N., Modi, W. S., Stephens, J. C., & O'Brien, S. J. (1995). Molecular evolution of mitochondrial 12S RNA and cytochrome b sequences in the pantherine lineage of Felidae. Molecular Biology and Evolution, 12(4), 690-707.
  2. ↑ Johnson, W. E., & O’Brien, S. J. (1997). Phylogenetic reconstruction of the Felidae using 16S rRNA and NADH-5 mitochondrial genes. Journal of Molecular Evolution, 44(1), S98-S116.
  3. ↑ Mattern, M. Y., & McLennan, D. A. (2000). Phylogeny and speciation of felids. Cladistics, 16(2), 232-253.
  4. ↑ Wozencraft, W. C. (1993). Order Carnivora. Mammal species of the world: a taxonomic and geographic reference, 279-348.
  5. ↑ Johnson, W. E., Eizirik, E., Pecon-Slattery, J., Murphy, W. J., Antunes, A., Teeling, E., & O'Brien, S. J. (2006). The late Miocene radiation of modern Felidae: a genetic assessment. Science, 311(5757), 73-77.
  6. ↑ Culver, M. (2009). Lessons and insights from evolution, taxonomy, and conservation genetics. Cougar: ecology and conservation, 27-40.
  7. ↑ Li, G., Davis, B., Eizirik, E., & Murphy, W. (2015). Phylogenomic evidence for ancient hybridization in the genomes of living cats (Felidae). Genome research, gr-186668.
  8. ↑ Salles, L. O. (1992). Felid phylogenetics: extant taxa and skull morphology (Felidae, Aeluroidea). Amer. museum Novitates.
  9. ↑ Segura, V., Prevosti, F., & Cassini, G. (2013). Cranial ontogeny in the Puma lineage, Puma concolor, Herpailurus yagouaroundi, and Acinonyx jubatus (Carnivora: Felidae): a three‐dimensional geometric morphometric approach. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 169(1), 235-250.
  10. ↑ Hunter, L. (2015). Wildcats of the world. Bloomsbury Press.
  11. ↑ Hemmer, H. 1965. Studien an “Panthera” schaubi Viret aus dem Villafranchien von Saint-Vallier (Dr me). Neues Jahrbuch fer Geologie und Paleontologie, Abhandlungen 122, 324-336.
  12. ↑ Hemmer, H., Kahlke, R. D., & Vekua, A. K. (2004). The Old World puma--Puma pardoides (OWEN, 1846)(Carnivora: Felidae)--In the Lower Villafranchian (Upper Pliocene) of Kvabebi (East Georgia, Transcaucasia) and its evolutionary and. Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie, Abhandlungen, 233(2), 197-232.
  13. ↑ Cherin, M., Iurino, D. A., & Sardella, R. (2013). Earliest occurrence of Puma pardoides (Owen, 1846)(Carnivora, Felidae) at the Plio/Pleistocene transition in western Europe: New evidence from the Middle Villafranchian assemblage of Montopoli, Italy. Comptes Rendus Palevol, 12(3), 165-171.
  14. ↑ Chimento, N. R., Derguy, M. R., & Hemmer, H. (2014). Puma (Herpailurus) pumoides (Castellanos, 1958) nov. comb. Comentarios sistemáticos y registro fósil. Serie correlación geológica, 30(2), 92-134.
  15. ↑ Cherin, M., Iurino, D. A., Sardella, R., & Rook, L. (2014). Acinonyx pardinensis (Carnivora, Felidae) from the Early Pleistocene of Pantalla (Italy): predatory behavior and ecological role of the giant Plio–Pleistocene cheetah. Quaternary Science Reviews, 87, 82-97.
  16. ↑ Geraads, D. (2014). How old is the cheetah skull shape? The case of Acinonyx pardinensis (Mammalia, Felidae). Geobios, 47(1), 39-44.
  17. ↑ 邱占祥, 邓涛, & 王伴月. (2004). Early Pleistocene Mammalian Fauna from Longdan Dongxiang Gansu China. 中国古生物志, New Ser C, (27), 1-198.
  18. ↑ Spassov, N. (2011). "Acinonyx pardinensis (Croizet et Jobert) remains from the Middle Villafranchian locality of Varshets (Bulgaria) and the Plio-Pleistocene history of the cheetahs in Eurasia". Estudios Geológicos. 67 (2): 245–253. doi: 10.3989/egeol.40464.187 . ISSN   0367-0449.
  19. ↑ Adams, D. B. (1979). "The cheetah: native American". Science. 205 (4411): 1155–1158. Bibcode:1979Sci...205.1155A. doi:10.1126/science.205.4411.1155. PMID   17735054. S2CID   17951039.
  20. ↑ Van Valkenburgh, B., Grady, F., & Kurtén, B. (1990). The plio-pleistocene cheetah-like cat Miracinonyx inexpectatus of North America. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, 10(4), 434-454.
  21. ↑ Barnett, R., Barnes, I., Phillips, M. J., Martin, L. D., Harington, C. R., Leonard, J. A., & Cooper, A. (2005). Evolution of the extinct Sabretooths and the American cheetah-like cat. Current Biology, 15(15), R589-R590.
  22. ↑ Dobrynin, P., Liu, S., Tamazian, G., Xiong, Z., Yurchenko, A.A., Krasheninnikova, K., Kliver, S., Schmidt-Küntzel, A., Koepfli, K.P., Johnson, W. and Kuderna, L.F., 2015. Genomic legacy of the African cheetah, Acinonyx jubatus. Genome biology, 16(1), p.1.
  23. ↑ O’Brien, S. J., Koepfli, K. P., Eizirik, E., Johnson, W., Driscoll, C., Antunes, A., ... & Dobrynin, P. (2016). Response to Comment by Faurby, Werdelin and Svenning. Genome biology, 17(1), 1.
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