Cheetah

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This article is about the animal. For other uses, see Cheetah (disambiguation).

Cheetah
Temporal range: Pleistocene

Holocene, 1.90 Ma

Pre

Pg

South African cheetah

(Acinonyx jubatus jubatus)

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Acoustic repertoire of cheetahs

Conservation status

Vulnerable (IUCN 3.1) [1]

Scientific classification

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Chordata

Class: Mammalia

Order: Carnivora

Family: Felidae

Genus: Acinonyx

Species: A. jubatus

Binomial name

Acinonyx jubatus
(Schreber, 1775)

Subspecies

A. j. venaticus (Griffith,
1821)

A. j. hecki (Hilzheimer,
1913)

A. j. jubatus (Schreber,
1775)

A. j.
soemmeringii (Fitzinger, 1855)
 A. j. raineyi (Heller, 1913)

The range of the cheetah

Former range Low

density Medium density High

density

Synonyms

List[2][show]

The cheetah /tit/ (Acinonyx jubatus) is a large felid of the subfamily Felinae that occurs mainly in
eastern and southern Africa and a few parts of Iran. The only extant member of the genus Acinonyx,
the cheetah was first described by Johann Christian Daniel von Schreber in 1775. The cheetah is
characterised by a slender body, deep chest, spotted coat, a small rounded head, black tear-like
streaks on the face, long thin legs and a long spotted tail. Its lightly built, slender form is in sharp
contrast with the robust build of the big cats, making it more similar to the cougar. The cheetah
reaches nearly 70 to 90 cm (28 to 35 in) at the shoulder, and weighs 2172 kg (46159 lb). Though
taller than the leopard, it is notably smaller than the lion. Basically yellowish tan or rufous to greyish
white, the coat is uniformly covered with nearly 2,000 solid black spots.
Cheetahs are active mainly during the day, with hunting their major activity. Adult males are sociable
despite their territoriality, forming groups called "coalitions". Females are not territorial; they may be
solitary or live with their offspring in home ranges. Carnivores, cheetah mainly prey
upon antelopes and gazelles. They will stalk their prey to within 100300 metres (330980 ft),
charge towards it and kill it by tripping it during the chase and biting its throat to suffocate it to death.
The cheetah's body is specialised for speed; it is the fastest land animal. The speed of a hunting
cheetah averages 64 km/h (40 mph) during a sprint; the chase is interspersed with a few short
bursts of speed, when the animal can attain 112 km/h (70 mph), although this is disputed by more
recent measurements. Cheetahs are induced ovulators, breeding throughout the year. Gestation is
nearly three months long, resulting in a litter of typically three to five cubs (the number can vary from
one to eight). Weaning occurs at six months; siblings tend to stay together for some time. Cheetah
cubs face higher mortality than most other mammals, especially in the Serengeti region. Cheetahs
inhabit a variety of habitats dry forests, scrub forests and savannahs.
Thanks to its prowess at hunting, the cheetah was tamed and used to kill game at hunts in the past.
The animal has been widely depicted in art, literature, advertising and animation.
Classified as vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the cheetah
has suffered a substantial decline in its historic range due to rampant hunting in the 20th century.
 Several African countries have taken steps to improve the standards of cheetah conservation. By
late 2016-early 2017, the cheetah's global population had fallen to approximately 7,100 individuals in
the wild due to habitat loss, poaching, the illegal pet trade, and conflict with humans, with
researchers suggesting that the animal be immediately reclassified as "Endangered" on the IUCN
Red List.[3]

Contents
[hide]

1Etymology

2Taxonomy

o 2.1Subspecies

3Genetics

o 3.1King cheetah

4Characteristics

o 4.1Anatomy

5Ecology and behaviour

o 5.1Social organisation

o 5.2Home ranges and territories

o 5.3Communication

5.3.1Vocalisations

5.3.2Other methods

5.3.3Display behaviour

o 5.4Hunting and competitors

o 5.5Speed and acceleration

5.5.1Adaptations

5.5.2Recorded values

o 5.6Reproduction

o 5.7Mortality
 6Distribution and habitat

7Status and threats

8Conservation measures

o 8.1In Africa

o 8.2In Asia

9Interaction with human beings

o 9.1Taming

o 9.2In captivity

o 9.3In culture

10References

11Further reading

12External links

Etymology
The vernacular name "cheetah" is derived from the Hindi word (ct), which in turn comes from
the Sanskrit word (citrakyah ) meaning "bright" or "variegated". The first recorded use of
this word has been dated back to 1610.[4][5] An alternative name for the cheetah is "hunting leopard".
[6]
The scientific name of the cheetah is Acinonyx jubatus.[7] The generic name Acinonyx could have
originated from the combination of two Greek words: akinetos means motionless,
and onyx means claw.[8][9] A rough translation of the word would be "non-moving claws", a reference
to the limited retractability (capability of being drawn inside the paw) of the claws of the cheetah
relative to other cats'. The specific name jubatus means "maned" in Latin, referring to
the dorsal crest of this animal.[10]

Taxonomy
Lynx
Lynx rufus (Bobcat)

L. canadensis (Canadian lynx

L. pardinus (Iberian lynx

L. lynx (Eurasian lynx

Puma
Acinonyx jubatus (Cheetah)

Puma concolor
The Puma lineage, depicted along with
the Lynx and Felis lineages of the family Felidae[11]
[12]

The cheetah is the only extant species of the genus Acinonyx. It belongs to Felinae, the subfamily of
Felidae that also includes lynxes, wildcats, and the puma. The species was first described by
German naturalist Johann Christian Daniel von Schreber in his 1775 publication Die Sugethiere in
Abbildungen nach der Natur mit Beschreibungen.[7]
The cheetah's closest relatives are the cougar (Puma concolor) and
the jaguarundi (P. yagouaroundi). These three species together form the Puma lineage, one of the
eight lineages of Felidae.[11][13][14]The sister group of the Puma lineage is a clade of smaller Old World
cats that includes the genera Felis, Otocolobus and Prionailurus.[12][15]
Although the cheetah is an African cat, molecular evidence indicates that the three species of
the Puma lineage evolved in North America two to three million years ago, where they possibly had
a common ancestor during the Miocene.[16] They possibly diverged from this ancestor 8.25 million
years ago.[13] The cheetah diverged from the puma and the jaguarundi around 6.7 million years ago.
[17]
A genome study concluded that cheetahs experienced two genetic bottlenecks in their history, the
first about 100,000 years ago and the second about 12,000 years ago, greatly lowering their genetic
variability. These bottlenecks may have been associated with migrations across Asia and into Africa
(with the current African population founded about 12,000 years ago), and/or with a depletion of prey
species at the end of the Pleistocene.[18]
Cheetah fossils found in the lower beds of the Olduvai Gorge site in northern Tanzania date back to
the Pleistocene.[19] The extinct species of Acinonyx are older than the cheetah, with the oldest known
from the late Pliocene; these fossils are about three million years old. [2] These species
include Acinonyx pardinensis (Pliocene epoch), notably larger than the modern cheetah,
and A. intermedius (mid-Pleistocene period).[20] While the range of A. intermedius stretched from
Europe to China, A pardinensis spanned over Eurasia as well as eastern and southern Africa.[2] A
variety of larger cheetah believed to have existed in Europe fell to extinction around half a million
years ago.[6]
Extinct North American cats resembling the cheetah had historically been assigned
to Felis, Puma or Acinonyx. However, a phylogenetic analysis in 1990 placed these species under
the genus Miracinonyx.[21] Miracinonyx exhibited a high degree of similarity with the cheetah.
However, in 1998, a DNA analysis showed that Miracinonyx inexpectatus, M. studeri,
and M. trumani (early to late Pleistocene epoch), found in North America, [20] are not true cheetahs; in
fact, they are close relatives of the cougar.[12]