Acinonyx

Acinonyx is a genus in the Felidae (cat) family,. The only living species of the genus and most commonly known, the cheetah, inhabits the open grasslands of Africa and Asia in parts of Iran. This genus represents a highly adapted lineage within the felids, which specialize in speed and open-terrain hunting. Evidence suggest that the Acinonyx genus evolved from other feline ancestors early on, to become specialized in stealth and running.

Acinonyx

Uncredited · CC BY-SA 3.0 · via Wikipedia/Commons. May be a photograph of a specimen, or an artist’s reconstruction — an interpretation of a skeleton, since colour and soft tissue are almost never preserved.

On record

Recorded, not inferred
Also called
cheetahPBDB
Sits inside
FelinaePBDB
Diet
carnivorePBDB, for Felidae
Life habit
scansorialPBDB, for Felidae
Motility
actively mobilePBDB, for Osteichthyes
Environment
terrestrialPBDB, for Eutheria

Time the record covers

At least 2.5 million years on record.

The record covers at least 2.58 Mya to 11.7 ka. No occurrence read is dated outside 5.333 Mya to 0 Mya.

Miocene — about 0 of 35 occurrencesPliocene — about 12 of 35 occurrencesPliocenePleistocene — about 22 of 35 occurrencesPleistoceneHolocene — about 1 of 35 occurrences5.4–5.3 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences5.3–5.1 Mya — about 0.6 occurrences5.1–4.9 Mya — about 0.6 occurrences4.9–4.7 Mya — about 0.6 occurrences4.7–4.5 Mya — about 0.6 occurrences4.5–4.3 Mya — about 0.6 occurrences4.3–4.1 Mya — about 0.6 occurrences4.1–3.9 Mya — about 0.6 occurrences3.9–3.7 Mya — about 0.6 occurrences3.7–3.5 Mya — about 0.9 occurrences3.5–3.3 Mya — about 1 occurrence3.3–3.1 Mya — about 1 occurrence3.1–2.9 Mya — about 1 occurrence2.9–2.7 Mya — about 1 occurrence2.7–2.5 Mya — about 1 occurrence2.5–2.3 Mya — about 2 occurrences2.3–2.1 Mya — about 2 occurrences2.1–1.9 Mya — about 2 occurrences1.9–1.8 Mya — about 2 occurrences1.8–1.6 Mya — about 1 occurrence1.6–1.4 Mya — about 1 occurrence1.4–1.2 Mya — about 1 occurrence1.2–972 ka Mya — about 1 occurrence972 ka–778 ka Mya — about 1 occurrence778 ka–583 ka Mya — about 2 occurrences583 ka–389 ka Mya — about 2 occurrences389 ka–194 ka Mya — about 2 occurrences194 ka–0 Mya — about 3 occurrences2.58 Mya11.7 ka5.8 Mya0 Mya

35 occurrences of Acinonyx on record, most of them in the Pleistocene. The Paleobiology Database records this as a living group. Bar height is expected occurrences, not a count: each fossil is spread across the span it is dated to, so a tall narrow bar means tight dating and a low wide one means loose.

When

35 occurrences

These are dates about fossils, not the animal: the record can only begin after it arose and end before it died out, so either end may reach further. Shares are expected occurrences: a fossil dated to a span is counted partly in each period it straddles. More on what this infers.

Found in

7 formations

Khapry — 47.24°N, 39.71°EKhapry — 47.22°N, 38.91°EMakapansgat — 24.20°S, 28.95°ESterkfontein — 26.02°S, 27.73°ESwartkrans — 26.02°S, 27.72°EC1/LR — 33.58°N, 7.65°WKuruksai suite — 38.31°N, 69.67°EGuadix — 37.42°N, 3.17°W

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The named rock units Acinonyx has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 27 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Acinonyx and its relatives

Pleistocene

Where Acinonyx and its relatives were recorded in the Pleistocene.

Found in the same rock

572 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 34 sites for Acinonyx, and this reads all of them. The number is how many of those sites it was catalogued from too. The 24 sharing the most are listed.

This is not a list of everything alive at the time. It is only what has come out of the same ground as this animal and been written down.

Entered from

30 references

Each of the 35 occurrences read was entered from one of these publications, ordered by how many each accounts for. This is not a search for papers mentioning the name. 18 further references are not listed. Entries link to doi.org where the Paleobiology Database holds an identifier, and to its own record where it does not. Relayed as the Paleobiology Database holds them, not checked against what they resolve to.

Media and terms

Media content1

Picture of Acinonyx

Credit
nobody named on the record
Licence
CC BY-SA 3.0
Commercial use
the licence allows it

No 3D scan of Acinonyx was found in Sketchfab.

Smithsonian Open Access and MorphoSource were not reached for this taxon, so this list is what the others held rather than everything there is.

The description on this site

Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0

This is what the site found, which is not the same as what exists.

Keep going

What may have been alongside itFelinae through timeFormations of the PleistoceneThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. Brookes 1828