The cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus) dewclaw: specialization overlooked

Both the behavioural and the morphological analyses confirm the special role of the dewclaw in the cheetah: a strong hook to stop running animals by using the energy of the victim itself. However, this would hardly be an explanation for the rather large dewclaw in the puma. The present finding of the puma as an intermediate between the cheetah and other large felids for dewclaw size, supports the idea that, despite some later reversal to a more primitive, typically feline structure, the puma originated from felids like the fossil cheetah-like cat Miracinonyx inexpectatus of North America, which had longer, more cursorial limbs (though maintaining fully retractile claws) and, as far as one can judge from phalanx size, larger dewclaws than the extant puma. Short communications Edited by M. L. Gorman J. Zool., Lond. (2000) 251, 535±537 # 2000 The Zoological Society of London The cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus) dewclaw: specialization overlooked