Scientists have discovered mummified cheetah remains in caves near Arar, northern Saudi Arabia. The remains include seven cheetah mummies and bones from 54 others. These finds are between 130 and more than 1,800 years old. Mummification delays decay and can happen naturally in dry places like deserts. The caves' dry, stable conditions likely preserved these animals. The mummies have shrunken limbs and cloudy eyes, making them resemble dried husks. Joan Madurell-Malapeira of the University of Florence said, "It's something that I've never seen before." Researchers published their results in Communications Earth and Environment. Large animal mummies are rare because they must avoid scavengers after death. Ahmed Boug of the National Center for Wildlife in Saudi Arabia called this discovery "entirely without precedent." Cheetahs once lived across Africa and parts of Asia, including the Arabian Peninsula, but have disappeared there for decades due to habitat loss, hunting, and fewer prey. For the first time, scientists studied the genes of naturally mummified big cats. They found these cheetahs are closely related to modern Asian and northwest African cheetahs. This genetic knowledge may help bring cheetahs back to areas where they vanished.