Acinonyx

Acinonyx is a genus within the cat family. The only living species of this genus, the cheetah A. jubatus lives in open grasslands of Africa and Asia. Several fossil remains of cheetah-like cats were excavated that date to the late Pliocene and Middle Pleistocene. 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. Acinonyx was proposed by Joshua Brookes in 1828. Between the late 18th century and the early 20th century, the following Acinonyx species and subspecies were described: In 1993, Acinonyx was placed in the monophyletic subfamily Acinonychinae. Molecular phylogenetic analysis has shown that it is the sister group of the genus Puma, and it is now placed within the subfamily Felinae. In addition, the following fossil Acinonyx species were described: The 'Linxia Cheetah' was initially described on the basis of a skull from Pliocene strata in China, and touted as the most primitive member of the genus. In 2012, A. kurteni was invalidated as a species when the holotype was determined to be a forgery composed of Miocene-aged fragments.