Mummified cheetahs found in caves in Saudi Arabia: “Something I’ve never seen before”

Scientists have discovered the remains of cheetahs in caves in northern Saudi Arabia.

The remains range from 130 to over 1,800 years old. Researchers excavated seven mummies along with the bones of 54 other cheetahs at a site near the city of Arar, calling the discovery “serendipity”.

Mummification prevents decay by preserving the dead. Egyptian mummies are best known, but the process can also occur naturally in glacial ice, desert sands, and peat bog mud.

The new big cat mummies have cloudy eyes and wrinkled limbs that look like dry skin.

“It’s something I’ve never seen before,” said Joan Madurell-Malapeira of the University of Florence in Italy, who was not involved in the discovery.

Findings a to analyze It was published Thursday in the journal Communications Earth and Environment. The researchers said the discovery “provides unprecedented insights into the evolutionary history and extinction of cheetahs in Saudi Arabia.”

Researchers don’t know exactly how these new cats were mummified, but the dry conditions and stable temperature of the caves played a role. They also don’t know why there were so many cheetahs in the caves. It may have been a breeding ground where mothers gave birth and raised their young.

It is rare for large mammals to be preserved at this level. In addition to being in the right environment, the carcass must become a snack for hungry birds like birds and hyenas.

Finding intact evidence of long-lived cheetahs in this part of the world is “absolutely unprecedented,” study author Ahmed Boug of Saudi Arabia’s National Wildlife Center said in an email.

Cheetahs once ranged across most of Africa and Asia, but now live in 9% of their former range and have not been seen across the Arabian Peninsula for decades. This is probably due to habitat loss, unregulated hunting and lack of prey, among others.