What Made The Pronghorn So Fast?

0:00 Intro
1:38 The Missing Puzzle Piece
3:10 Clues from Africa
5:20 American Cheetah
7:19 Running from Ghosts
9:01 Outro
#Pleistocene #Megafauna #Pronghorn #Cheetah #Miracinonyx #PaleoAnalysis
The Pronghorn is the fastest land animal in North America. It is easily able to outrun every predator on the prairie. In fact, it almost seems like overkill! The Pronghorn doesn't really need to be as fast as it is to evade the carnivores it lives along side. And for a long time the reasons why were a mystery to scientists. That is, until the discovery of unique and yet oddly familiar cat skeleton started to point to the presence of a unknown predator that may answer that question once and for all.
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[@DinosaurianDude]

Heck, the ecological niche of fast pursuit cat was already so fragile for the Old World cheetah that it also nearly went extinct 100,000 years ago. The population got so small that all cheetahs today have extremely little genetic variation.

[@sedghammer]

Our species also bottlenecked 100,000 years ago. Only around 100 pairs of people surviving in caves in South Africa. We also now only have a fraction of the genetic diversity we used to.

[@PaleoAnalysis]

In general, any animal in a hyper specialized niche is the most vunerable when conditions change.

[@oucyan]

let's forget that the Iranian Cheetah also went extinct in recorded history.

[@MaryAnnNytowl]

@@oucyan many animals have been driven to extinction by the human. No need to "forget" it, as most people know we are terrible around animals.

[@oucyan]

@@MaryAnnNytowl lol. very true.

[@andrewgan557]

The pronghorn antelope is literally running away from predators from the past.

[@indyreno2933]

It's actually just called a pronghorn, the word "antelope" refers correctly and exclusively to the taxa Tetracerus, Tragelaphini, Hippotraginae, Peleinae, Reduncinae, Antilopinae, Cephalophinae, and Neotraginae of the family Bovidae, all of which are found only in both Africa and Asia, the pronghorn is not an antelope, it is the only living representative of the family Antilocapridae, which is one of only two extant families within the superfamily Giraffoidea, making the pronghorn more closely related to giraffids than to bovids.

[@andrewgan557]

@@indyreno2933 I know this a case of convergent evolution. In fact the pronghorn can do something the true antelopes can't do. Sheds off it's horns.

[@johnorsomeone4609]

Who isn’t?

[@octipuscrime]

A next level of ptsd

[@TheAwillz]

They met my ex too huh?

[@Fede_99]

Pronghorn thousands of years ago: oh shit run there's the fast big cat Pronghorn today: wait why are we so fast again?

[@motorcitymangababe]

"Legends fortell of a cat that was fast my son, that is why we much run"

[@thenewguyinred]

Other Pronghorn: I don’t know, but I like being fast, so let’s stay fast.

[@Sofie424]

Zoo cheetahs might escape!

[@stevefyke8640]

Gotta outrun those TRAINS!!

[@janeesahubbard]

@@stevefyke8640 A train is faster, especially bullet train!

[@diptube6563]

I tried chasing these things as a kid. Can concur that they are fast.

[@peetsnort]

My dad tried to catch a baby wildebeest at one day old and it ran away.

[@lorcanmcloughlin3686]

@@peetsnort hope this is not rude but why?

[@peetsnort]

@@lorcanmcloughlin3686 he was a cattle rancher in the then Tanzania in the 50s. He also shot elephant and buffalo to keep the brucellosis away. He said that he regretted shooting elephants but did not say why he chased the calf. Perhaps curiosity

[@peetsnort]

They also have endurance. Something to do with the red blood cells. I think sherpas have it and that's why they've climbed mount everest so much

[@diptube6563]

@@peetsnort that's dope, you should ask him to post his stories here

[@Alister222222]

The fact that pronghorns exist might not be proof that decline in pronghorns wasn't the reason the American cheetah went extinct. The pronghorn numbers just have to have fallen low enough that the cheetah population crashed beyond recovery, after which the pronghorn population could have rebounded massively. This way they could still exist today, while having declined low enough in the past for the cheetahs to have disappeared.

[@bkjeong4302]

Yep this.

[@pa-pa-plasma]

@DropkicktheDecepticon the climate had already been changing, so I wouldn't put the blame on humans for that (give us a break ya know? that ancient North American human hunting mammoths once or twice a year for their family isn't the same as a billionaire dumping oil into the ocean & mining crypto every day). A lot of things have happened in the last million years. A lot of animals went extinct in North America within the last 5 to 10,000 years or whatever. There were probably many different little reasons that all added up over time, resulting in the extinction of Miracinonyx; climate change; the pronghorn itself getting faster & harder to catch; smaller, more jack-of-all-trades predator populations booming; running like a cheetah does but in ten feet of fresh snow at 150 to 200 pounds probably wasn't the easiest or the smartest way to go about things; and what Alister said above. The Miracinonyx was probably hyperspecialized to the point where more physically powerful predators like wolves, bears, & cougars could easily take over their kills, like with African cheetahs today. Not to mention wolves are very strategic hunters and, although it's hard, they're capable of taking down pronghorns themselves. Going that fast requires a lot of energy, and if another predator steals your kill or cuts in during the hunt enough times, that cat is just wasting all of theirs until they starve to death. Plus, African cheetahs are known for having major anxiety, which causes them to have more miscarriages or just not breed at all. Who's to say NA cheetahs weren't the same? or at least anxious enough to not mess with a pack of wolves or grizzly. Hyperspecific animals, like dire wolves & miracinonyx, tend not to survive through major events anyhow. It sounds mean, but if you drain a lake, who's more likely to survive, the fish or the frogs? I just think, with all the other smaller, less specialized predator populations rising in the absence of most megafauna, an animal designed to catch a very specific type of prey (which has it's own competition & other predators to worry about) and almost nothing else probably couldn't have survived :/

[@ThePigeonBrain]

If that was the case, it would be provable through DNA analysis. For example, we know that cheetas went through a genetic bottleneck around 10 000 years ago.

[@JT-km6th]

@DropkicktheDecepticon humans didn't go rampaging and killing every animal. However we did upset the ecosystem in the same way that when cats originally came from Asia to the Americas, they decimated the population due to the unbalance.

[@ThePigeonBrain]

@DropkicktheDecepticon We're talking about pronghorns, which still exist

[@bkjeong4302]

The fact pronghorns still exist doesn’t mean the exticntion of the American cheetah was by natural means. There were a few more pronghorn species around until recently that went extinct at around the same time, and even the extant species may have just declined for long enough for Miracinonyx to starve.

[@mysteryguy1267]

Correct! That’s what I was thinking. There’s like 6 species of extinct pronghorn. Once the American cheetah went extinct, the mule deer moved in and the coyotes/cougars take the role of American Cheetah.

[@lastEvergreen]

Maybe the Pronghorn just got so fast they could outrun the Miracinonyx every time.

[@CrimsonReapa]

@@mysteryguy1267 pronghorns leave coyotes/cougars in the dust, the only threat to a adult pronghorn these days is getting hit by a car should they try to cross a road/high way, no predator that currently exist in America is able to hunt pronghorns to the point of it being a true predator/prey relationship, most pronghorn deaths occur as new borns when carnivores like coytoes,mountain lions,bears and wolves pick off newborn calves that can't out run them but after just a few days or a week or 2 when the babies get used to walking/running they can easy outrun/maneuver those predators, excluding newborn babies 95-99% of pronghorns that are killed are hit by a car as i stated earlier, the other 1-5%are from wolf/coytoe pack or a mountain lion occasionally picking one off but thats usually because the prong horn was already sick/injured or just old, healthy pronghorns on the other hand rarely die to predators these days so they only have humans to worry about since nothing else in America can catch a healthy pronghorn.

[@bradleybarba5362]

Completely agree also were not exactly sure without more proof what lead to the American cheetahs extinction but maybe it had something to do with its range as we know the pronghorn didn't go extinct but whos to say the surviving species was its preferred prey item potentially one of the others may have been its main sorse and the remaining species may have been just too fast for it. This is honestly really interesting to figure out and hope more developments will be seen in the future

[@beastprime7668]

I think this speed is adaption to outrun twisters and not predators due to the fact they live in Tornado Alley.

[@soupatroopuh3696]

I’ve always thought that the Pronghorn was a rather odd specimen of the North American animals.

[@niamtxiv]

Me too

[@astick5249]

They aren't even antelopes, but in the same group as giraffes and the okapi, what we have today is only a hint of how strange this group can get. Extinct relatives often had extremely weird branching horns and other odd stuff.

[@Temtatork]

Maybe the american cheetah just lose the arms race, the pronghorns became too fast for it and maybe was outcompete by wolves and their team strategies

[@shatnermohanty6678]

This also disproves a theory held by some that the Asiatic Cheetah wasn't native to India and they were brought to India by the Indian Kings and rulers and the now extinct Indian Cheetah was actually a Feral population escaped from captivity . These people disregard the fact that just like the high speed of the Impala and Gazelle was the product of an Evolutionary Arms Race between the Prey and Predator ( African Cheetah ) the high speed of the Blackbuck Antelope and Chinkara Gazelle of India were the product of an Evolutionary Arms Race between them and the Asiatic Cheetah You can import an animal , you can't set up an entire ecosystem , complete with Prey that has evolved to coexist with it .

[@PaleoAnalysis]

So yes, but the story with the Asiatic Cheetah is still tied to the African Cheetah to a point. At least more so than the American Cheetah. Asiatic Cheetahs did come from Africa but on their own accord. The African Cheetah spread out into southern Asia and started taking advantage of food sources there. And thus started putting the same evolutionary pressure on herbivore species there. So although the Asiatic Cheetah is not a completely separate creature that evolved entirely independent from the cheetah we know today, it's presence in Asia is the result of nature, not escaped pets of Indian kings.

[@shatnermohanty6678]

@@PaleoAnalysis yes American Cheetah are not technically " Cheetah " We use that word for our convenience 😊👍

[@shatnermohanty6678]

@@PaleoAnalysis the word Cheetah is of Indian origin which means " the Spotted One "

[@shatnermohanty6678]

@DropkicktheDecepticon they went extinct in 1948 Now , the Asiatic Cheetah is only found in Iran and is critically endangered .

[@zebedeemadness2672]

@@shatnermohanty6678 True, same as Mountain "Lion" (not really a Lion), although the Cheetah genus (Acinonyx) and the Puma genus (Puma) are in the same lineage, with the Puma clade that includes the Otter-Cat genus (Herpailurus), is a sister clade to the Cheetah clade. The American "Cheetah" genus (Miracinonyx) was (is) more related to Puma and Otter-Cat clade than to Cheetah clade.

[@coffeenclinic]

Their adaptation for avoiding predators is one thing that makes pronghorns so fun to observe and hunt. Their whole defensive strategy is to see predators from far away and count on outrunning them if necessary. So they are out in the open all day where you can see them. If you are just messing around in a non-stalking mode, they often are not particularly afraid of you and will approach fairly close. Just a non-hunting coyote to them! But look like you are trying to sneak up on them and it is a whole other ballgame. I am pretty sure they can see a baby grasshopper at 800 yards. I once had one running next to my front fender at 50 mph, stretching out with belly almost on the ground. What a fun sight that was! Never forget it.

[@ainerobertson78]

Honestly this channel itches the need for weird niche & in depth archaeology facts that I've been looking for on youtube. I could go to natgeo or pbs, but really what I want is someone just as baffled as I am going in depth on the thing while showing me more cool really really *really* old things. You and the miniminuteman are giving me the binge and re-binge worthy ancient (and older) content I have been craving, especially the complete history of the earth series (still baffled how we went from fish to mammal with a brain too complex for our own good)

[@hsdinoman2267]

to me i know its gonna be a good friday night when Paleo Analysis uploads a new video

[@brookerickettson4950]

This one side of a predator prey dynamic surviving reminds me of the theory of the “mega seed” trees like the honey locust and the osage orange tree having evolved to have their seeds( but not leaves as for example the honey locust has thorns protecting the leaves!) eaten by mammoths, and other large herbivores, the kinds that went extinct, but the trees haven’t picked up on this. Fascinating to see the remnants of these relationships live on long after their need. Kind of a memorial if you will!

[@faceless2302]

iirc avocadoes also evolved to be eaten and dispersed by a now extinct herbivore, leaving humans to pick up the mantle of 'cado cultivators

[@erickvalentin7703]

Monkey Puzzle Trees also evolved to avoid being eaten by large sauropods that aren’t around anymore !

[@WasThisMail]

Literally the "years of academy training" meme

[@astick5249]

"Millions of years of evolutionary adaptation wasted!"

[@niccarr4941]

Really love this channel and the direction you’re taking it. I’ve learned so much about how the earth has shaped itself and how the fauna adapted to all the changes it went though.

[@Exthias1983]

Dude...until this video I never knew the Americas even had a cheetah-like cat. I dig your videos my friend.

[@catherinehubbard1167]

Fascinating! This is a story I never heard before. Congrats on your channel growth. So well deserved!

[@ondraspendlik9759]

Really enjoying this channel, it's really fascinating to learn about the animals that lived here long before us. Seeing these animals and hearing about them is a great inspiration for me. Also, it's cool to see how fast this channel has grown. Just 4 months ago, it had 2 thousand subs and now it almost has a 100 thousand! Good to see people still care about history and learning.

[@joshuajohnson7848]

I’m so glad I found your channel. I enjoy your content so much and I hope this becomes an even better opportunity for you in the coming days.

[@aldgate]

I have noticed the production quality and structure of the videos has definitely been improving lately, well done!

[@mattj4005]

There are actually quite a few Miracinonyx specimens known, in addition to the holotype. Most of them come from Natural Trap Cave in Wyoming. There are no complete skeletons in the sense that all the bones come from a single individual, but nearly all of the bones of Miracinonyx are known from at least one individual. The University of Kansas natural history museum used to have a nearly complete skeleton on exhibit, including skull and mandible.

[@LuisHernandez-sf5hf]

Thnx brother Your passion shines through your words. Keep ‘em coming, we have a lot to learn

[@benmcreynolds8581]

I have recently realized that I am just blown away with fascination when it comes to prehistoric, ice age era creatures and all of its unique biodiversity and styles. I love imagining what it must have been like to have so many forms of Sloths roaming around all in their own unique niche way. Then you have the weasel family (a prehistoric Wolverine would be so cool!) Then New Zealand has the giant Moia birds and the largest bird of prey Eagle 🦅 that literally hunted and killed the giant Moia birds.. like WHAT! Then, you got the elephant birds and everything else that could go with Madagascar lol giant ground Lemur's. All the unique types of big cats, bears, hell pigs, a unique predator marsupial type cat, terror birds, near horned beast or giant hornless rhinos, that crazy predator mammal that has a weird name like "Andrewsarchus" I think?, All the hoofed animals, reptiles, birds, giant beavers, giant turtles, giant armadillo, dire wolves, giant Hyenas, etc. Think of all that we don't get to see in the fossil record.. there's probably so many more facinating aspects of these extinct ecosystem era's. That our imagination probably can't even conjure it up with even the utmost creativity attempted. I could only imagine how amazing the ancient trees and fungi and lichen must have been. Moss, ferns, old growth forested area's (I live in Oregon and I'm lucky to have a old growth patch of forest only 5 minutes from my house if I'm just willing to hike in a bit from this spot that opens to a vast forest area right at the edge of town in a certain part of it.) We actually have a handful of "old growth forest zones near my hometown of Corvallis. I always imagine ice age or prehistoric animals existing in the ecosystem when I'm exploring it. I'm really happy I just found your channel 👍

[@shingtiong9425]

Before he said it. I'm gonna predict it American cheetah.It is the American cheetah.

[@JKLynar]

Excellent! Answering a question that has surely occurred to every hunter and naturalist encountering the pronghorn in it's modern habitat! Bless you, inquisitive young man, for making an old hunter smile today. Keep hunting the pieces of this magnificent puzzle.

[@kiphood8145]

Man thanks a lot. I grew up in Saskatchewan Canada 🇨🇦 and we have them here. It always blows my mind on why they can run so fast with no predators to chase them. I always thought they came from Africa and got stuck here when the land bridge was cut off. Again thanks for the vid 👏👏👏👏

[@meg2831]

I like it when you spotlight obscure animals because I learn so much. You make things so interesting! Welp I'm going back to binging you videos now 😁

[@paleolad]

I just discovered your channel through this video, and it's really well made! I subscribed instantly :D Looking forward to other interesting videos like this!

[@dundy96]

Just found this channel! I really like this long-form style of content in other categories of videos, so to find it for this area of my interests is awesome! Keep it up! You've gained a sub :D

[@bradsullivan2298]

I'm so glad I found your channel! I really enjoy the content and looking forward to new videos. Thanks for sharing!

[@JamesBrown-yd1nm]

Your videos make my day everyday they come out, I haven't found many people who do content like this and it is what i have a passion for.

[@TalesofKaimere]

Another banger! Fantastic work as always my man.

[@FoxFighter-HellBringer]

In fourth grade, I wrote my animal essay on cheetahs and I have loved them ever since. Every feature on this animal is geared toward running. And after seeing them in the wild, it truly is like watching a piece of natural artwork. They are beautiful and so regal that Pharoah owned them as hunting companions. If that isn't proof of their royalty, I don't know what is.

[@captainamericaamerica8090]

CHEETAHS= MY FORTH FAV! =😍😍= TIGERS= 👑👑🐯🐯> JAGS> LEOPARDS=,CHEETAHS!

[@kellyharrison5184]

Another great video! I really enjoy your conversational narration.

[@tonyto8384]

just stumbled across your channel and i love it! you cover topics that i have always wondered about. thank you so much!

[@Aggiebrettman]

Gotta drop a note to say how much I'm loving your videos. Thanks.

[@seyersusej8329]

Hey I started following your channel this morning, and I’ve been on a binge 😅 Keep it up!

[@r-pupz7032]

I love this channel, thank you so much! 😻

[@weshard1]

I’m always looking for channels like this, and thankfully KZbin recommended it, and I’ve subscribed. Keep up the good work.

[@ren17x50]

Science channels rock!

[@gigos2]

You got something in your voice that is very calming in nature, and your words are simple although you are talking about a complicated subject. But you find a way to serve it for the simple people. Hear my words: You gonna get big. Great content.

[@LeDank]

Top-tier paleontology channel right out of the gates, man. Subbed.

[@grahamberends6613]

Thank you. Wish you all the best developing your channel/series. G

[@1TakoyakiStore]

I think your channel is gonna blow up soon because, for some reason, I'm getting a ton of your video recommendations over the last few days which bodes well for your channel. Good luck! 😁👍

[@astradala1845]

You just got a subscriber! Very good video pal.

[@johnwanderin3872]

Prehistoric and modern predators are my favorites, especially from North America so I was excited to see a video about the American cheetah. Would love to see videos about the American lion, cave bear, dire wolf or even any prehistoric Mustelids.

[@irena4545]

You've earned yourself a new subscriber, this is really great and interesting content!

[@charlesbragdon5200]

I don't know what the frick it is about this but I love this guy so much. First time seeing his content and it's so amazing I'm honestly blessed. Your doing absolutely fantastic dude all your work is really paying off!!!! You got some great vibes

[@cheaplaughkennedy2318]

Really great channel, so interesting.

[@bequakynskagroupie3751]

Love your stuff! Just discovered it today 🙃

[@antwan1357]

Your content is really great keep up the great work.

[@skyezz1887]

Hey man I grew up in Alberta and did know about this but it’s a great video and awesome intro into your channel! Keep it up

[@ellayvonn]

literally like 2 days ago you only had 94k… CONGRATS ON 100k !!

[@nia.d3356]

Wow man great vudeo , you earned my subscription.

[@andreglenn74]

Great work !!

[@maximillianquaife-larsen3827]

Thanks for the vid dude

[@Henkvanpeer]

Again hoog, informative video! I am already a sub but I will share your channel with friends

[@sabretooth7691]

I really like this channel and content

[@Traumasamanen]

I really like your videos!

[@jeffreyhawn3562]

Nice episode mate really intresting

[@manusmanus1084]

Recently a complete specimen of American Cheetah has been found deep in a cave in the mountains of Southwest Virginia where I live. I'm uncertain of the exact dating but if I recall correctly it was around 20,000 years old and remarkably preserved. I would really like to hear theories of why this cat that was built for speed in presumably open territory was living in the mountains. I have heard of other remains that were found in mountainous territory as well.

[@biercenator]

With no background knowledge at all, I was wondering whether a change in foliage patterns and grazing habits of the prey might have had an effect. As a fast cat you'd need places to spring from.

[@AthosJosue]

Running from a evolutionary ghost its a pretty interesting concept.

[@pizzaparty3901]

What I notice that you do so well that's different from most every other documentary type show, is 1) keeping everything clear and concise, 2) what seems to be the right amount of humor, 3) while not presenting too much personal opinion. To give examples of what I don't like, is when people use too much jargon and information and it's hard to follow the main point after an hour. And in lots of more developed productions (like National Geographic) they use too much mood setting music and I feel that they're really trying to influence my opinion of animals based on a mainstream, modern lens.

[@kuitaranheatmorus9932]

This video was pretty great and I love it

[@enbonj5842]

This is freakin awesome dude

[@daultonhuskey2804]

This is great! Took a bunch of pictures of pronghorn this last weekend in Colorado.

[@krissmonte6374]

Although I knew this information,from previous exposure it is always so much fun to review,and I thank you

[@1fishmob]

Some people have argued that this is a good reason for the introduction of African Cheetah in North America; to help give pronghorns a needed predator and to bring back a lost ecological function in the American prairies.

[@jerlee620]

“We are told stories about our ancestors having to run to school, uphill both ways” -Pronghorn

[@foekelepoutre4358]

Just subsbcribed because of this amazing video!

[@umitsgrc7014]

Keep doing videos bro it is awsome

[@Traianus76]

This is perfect for my classroom, thank you.

[@SeptemberMeadows]

Thank you for your efforts.

[@petrairene]

Great video!

[@hugopritchard8455]

I've always loved pronghorn antelopes. Thanks for making this video.

[@ianking2542]

Man I’ve like fallen in love with this I’ve legit found a new passion here

[@johnjude2685]

Love your skills with history videos

[@trevord4944]

KEEP MAKING MORE CONTENT!!! idk what you do for a job outside of KZbin, but it’s obvious that your passion lies here. Keep making content as consistently as you can and the people will keep coming :)

[@f1sherman52]

Great video

[@ThePigeonBrain]

It would be intersting to introduce a pronghorn to an african cheetah

[@samueldowd8408]

Dam what a wholesome outro, only just stumbled across the channel the other day, love these types of videos. Glad you love making the videos as much as we enjoy watching. Reckon you’ll do some videos on Australia? I love watching and learning things about prehistoric fauna and flora of my country and frankly there isn’t to many videos out there

[@PaleoAnalysis]

Thanks for watching, Australia in particular is actually one of my favorate subjects to talk about! Stay tuned because I will absolutely be talking about more on that topic in the future. For now I do have a video talking about Palorchestes! If you haven't seen it yet here's a link! I hope you enjoy :) kzbin.info/www/bejne/aoOacoBnn7SCoaM

[@samueldowd8408]

@@PaleoAnalysis thanks mate, never even had heard of palorchestes until now pretty and I thought I was pretty well versed on Australian megafauna. pretty sad how over here the average person probably knows more about sabertooths and mammoths then our own megafauna…

[@PaleoAnalysis]

Other paleo enthusiasts from Australia have told me the exact same thing. It's so sad! Stay tuned, I do intend to make a full length Paleo Catalog video about Thylacoleo in the future. (like my one about Smilodon)

[@samueldowd8408]

@@PaleoAnalysis love your work mate

[@caseyleichter2309]

I love your detailed analyses, and your sense of humor (expressed through your icon). I have a request: the many species of elephant that were around 20K (?) years ago. Palaeoloxodon! The delightfully named Gomphotherium! Shovel tusks! Straight tusks! Four tusks! Wild and crazy.

[@James-pq5pi]

Very cool. Would like to see a video on Randall Carlson's theories relative to mega floods during the Younger Dryas and the impact on the mega fauna in North and South America.

[@chaseberens6486]

im happy to see you succeeding

[@danmel3978]

this scrpt is so good, no stupid wording like other channels

[@42Fossy]

Hey Paleo, I have a question that you can answer either here or maybe in a video if it's interesting enough - besides Spinosaurus and maybe Liaoningosaurus, why aren't there more marine dinosaurs? My intuition is "Because the marine reptiles just took over all the non-fish niches and left nothing for the dinosaurs", but I feel like that's too simple. Even today, with mammals dominating the non-fish aquatic niches, we still see avian dinosaurs here or there having a lot of success in the water - penguins, waterfowl, commarants, and so forth. If they were able to find that niche now, why didn't they back then? Was the Mesozoic ocean just a different story?

[@coin0matic]

If I were to hazard a guess, it may be that there *were* aquatic dinosaurs that either couldn't fossilize well or we haven't found them yet. A trult tragic amount of animals never end up fossilizing for any number of reasons, like for example Australia's bone eating soil or squid being potentially physically impossible to fossilize (we may end up very, very lucky but chances aren't good considering they straight up disintegrate upon death). Or there are dinosaurs that we hve that we don't know are aquatic, like spinosaurs themselves up until very recently.

[@ahahaha6228]

We probably just haven't found them yet.

[@skitsfossil16]

Maybe you can do some sort of living fossil series. Talk about somewhat lesser known living fossils, and talk about their origins and how they managed to survive for so long.

[@PaleoAnalysis]

I do like this idea! Thanks!

[@skitsfossil16]

@@PaleoAnalysis you’re welcome! You’re videos are great and entertaining. Flab I could contribute.

[@stumpyale]

I've know about the American Cheetah since I was a kid and was always sad I could never see it. Wonder if maybe another will evolve down the line, it's possible. Anyway, I love your content keep up the good work.

[@achilles2103]

Nice that there are people who love prehistory like myself, great work go on

[@erichtomanek4739]

I still remember when the American Cheetah's scientific name was Felis trumani. But even when I first learnt of it, the theory was that it's closest relative was the puma.

[@lukaslambs5780]

I love studying evolutionary anachronisms! It’s so cool how pronghorn speed is genuinely overkill. Another cool example of this sort of process is how Honey Locust Trees have these massive thorns that are only really explainable in the context of deterring very large Pleistocene herbivores that wouldn’t be detected by “normal sized” thorns. Those herbivores are extinct and now these trees have comically intense thorns for basically no reason.

[@DDBurnett1]

I used to see pronghorns literally in my backyard in Colorado. Amazing animals.

[@369TurtleMan]

Damn… that line about being on the lookout for a rival that no longer exists hit me right in the feels

[@adinlucena7047]

Keep up the great work! But please could u do a video about the American lion?

[@frantisekmakovicka1660]

First of all I would like to thank you for making these videos. It reminds of what I used to watch on the National Geographic or Discovery Chanel, when I was a kid. So I dont understand how I found you only now. Now to my question: Could you make please a video on how humans became the ultimate Apex Predator. Like how we compare to other rulers like the T-Rex and such. Thanks a lot again for your content.

[@undertyped1]

We should implement cheetas where longhorns live, because it would be hilarious to see if pronghorns will evolve to be even faster.

[@williamblansett5786]

Very interesting video. It also seems to make argument that cheetahs should be introduced on to the American plains. There is an Asian cheetah form of cheetah that is typically smaller than the African Cheetah. There is also seems to be "a fly in the ointment" some scientists have claimed because American Cheetah fossils are not found in areas that holds Pronghorn Antelope that the Pronghorn Antelope probably hunt Desert Bighorn Sheep.

[@rhivan6921]

Videos like this make me want to make a fantasy setting based in a pleistocene inspired ecosystem.

[@CwL-1984]

Splendid 👍👍

[@joesmith-eg6pv]

You make this shit interesting. Good job.

[@fabricdragon]

as a speculation: when the large megafauna started having issues, the american cheetah would have faced far more "kill thefts" than they used to. the other predators literally USING them to hunt the pronghorn, and then taking their food. given that African Cheetahs almost died out in "recent" history, i can see it being a pretty easy thing for our cheetahs to die out as well