Acinonyx

Acinonyx
Temporal range: Pliocene – Holocene, 3–0 Ma
↓
Cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus)
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Carnivora
Suborder: Feliformia
Family: Felidae
Subfamily: Felinae
Genus: Acinonyx
Brookes, 1828
Species
Synonyms
  • Cynailurus Wagner, 1830
  • Cynofelis Lesson, 1842
  • Guepar Boitard, 1842
  • Gueparda Gray, 1843
  • Guepardus Duvernoy, 1834
  • Paracinonyx Kretzoi, 1929

Acinonyx is a genus within the Felidae family.[1] The only living species of the genus, the cheetah (A. jubatus), lives in open grasslands of Africa and Asia.[2]

Several fossil remains of cheetah-like cats were excavated that date to the late Pliocene and Middle Pleistocene.[3] These cats occurred in Africa, parts of Europe and Asia about 10,000 years ago. Several similar species classified in the genus Miracinonyx lived in North America at the same time; these may have been more closely related to the genus Puma.[2]

  1. ^ Wozencraft, W. C. (2005). "Genus Acinonyx". In Wilson, D. E.; Reeder, D. M. (eds.). Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3rd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press. pp. 532–533. ISBN 978-0-8018-8221-0. OCLC 62265494.
  2. ^ a b Krausman, P. R. & Morales, S. M. (2005). "Acinonyx jubatus" (PDF). Mammalian Species (771): 1–6. doi:10.1644/1545-1410(2005)771[0001:aj]2.0.co;2. S2CID 198969000. Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 July 2015. Retrieved 2 July 2015.
  3. ^ Hemmer, H.; Kahlke, R.-D.; Keller, T. (2008). "Cheetahs in the Middle Pleistocene of Europe: Acinonyx pardinensis (sensu lato) intermedius (Thenius, 1954) from the Mosbach Sands (Wiesbaden, Hessen, Germany)". Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie, Abhandlungen. 249 (3): 345–356. doi:10.1127/0077-7749/2008/0249-0345.