Overview
- Field teams surveyed 134 caves near Arar in 2022–2023 and found seven naturally mummified cheetahs plus 54 skeletons.
- Radiocarbon dates range from about 130 to roughly 4,000 years, indicating the cats persisted on the peninsula into recent centuries.
- Researchers recovered complete genomes from three specimens, marking the first such success with naturally mummified big cats.
- Genomic comparisons link the youngest specimen to the Asiatic cheetah and two older ones to northwest African cheetahs, overturning the single-lineage assumption for Arabia.
- The results broaden potential source populations for any reintroduction, though experts caution that both candidate subspecies are critically endangered and any translocations must be carefully assessed.