We hold that the weedy spread of Homo outside Africa, rather than climate change, has played a big role in the extinction of the cheetah-like lineage of cats. In Africa itself, the long coevolution with the expanding predatory ape might have given several of the cats some edge to
survive the competition from the upstart Homo. The cheetah-like lineage includes the modern cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus); the extinct giant cheetah A. pardensis, which form one branch & the second branch formed by the American cheetah (Miracinonyx), the pumas & the jaguarundi.
The large A. pardensis was seen through much of Europe, Caucasus & India, e.g., the Siwaliks in the Panjab, where it was originally misidentified as a pantherid (Sivapanthera). It has been recovered with the primitive Homo in Georgia, where it might have hunted this branch of our
tree. It coexisted in Caucasus/Europe with big cats namely Homotherium a sabertooth, Megantereon the dirktooth & the now extinct Eurasian jaguar. Their overlap was relatively stable over a long period, comparable to the overlap with related sabertooths& pantherids in Africa.
So unlike what some have claimed we don't think the giant cheetah became extinct due to competition with other cats& their cousins their hyaenas. In the north American continent, we have the jaguar entering from Asia, the American lion, the sabertooth Smilodon. There the cheetah
lineage diversified to give rise to: 1. Miracinonyx which occupied a somewhat cheetah-like predatory mode; 2 the puma, a secretive generalist; 3. the jaguarundi, which occupied the small cat niche. Of these Miracinonyx after a very long run in America became extinct suspiciously
close to the arrival of the main wave of Homo from Asia. The extinction across multiple regions with the coming of Homo suggests that the destruction of prey by overpredation, direct killing & probably environmental degradation by the activities of the invasive species led to the
end of specialized predators of the cheetah-like lineage across Eurasia & the New World. The generalist & secretive puma's survival supports this. In light of this we wonder if the taming of cheetahs for hunting in the Harappan or adjacent West Asian civilizations contributed to
the greater longevity of smaller species Acinonyx jubatus. Since it was not a domesticate like the house cat, along with the tamed caracal these cats might have been maintained in a reasonably sized population that circulated in the wild. This is consistent with bottleneck we see
The bottleneck seems to have reduced the fertility of the animal -- males have been reported to have a lower sperm count & more defective gametes than other cats. This also raises issues regarding successful breeding of the relocated cats. The one early attempt I'm aware of is
that of the Mongols. The Chingizids, probably during Ogodei's reign started importing cheetahs into the steppe. It is said that Qubilai, the grandson of Chingiz, had a large number of them high 100s-1000s depending on sources. These seem to have completely failed to have taken
long-term root. They might have lasted till the time of the Ming rulers of China. Where did the Mongols get their cheetahs from? Iran, which part of the empire or from India or both? It is said that at least in the reign of Qubilai he had them on the steppe near the old Mongol
capital of Qaraqorum along with caracals, where they hunted steppe antelopes & fallow deer. Was the climate unsuited for their long-term persistence? Not necessarily because the time of Taizong& his successors we have records of the cat on the Turkestan steppe.
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