Cheetah 2.0

[Otilia Mojarro]

Thecheetah was first described in the late 18th century. Four subspecies are recognised today that are native to Africa and central Iran. An African subspecies was introduced to India in 2022. It is now distributed mainly in small, fragmented populations in northwestern, eastern and southern Africa and central Iran. It lives in a variety of habitats such as savannahs in the Serengeti, arid mountain ranges in the Sahara, and hilly desert terrain.

The cheetah is threatened by habitat loss, conflict with humans, poaching and high susceptibility to diseases. The global cheetah population was estimated in 2021 at 6,517; it is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List. It has been widely depicted in art, literature, advertising, and animation. It was tamed in ancient Egypt and trained for hunting ungulates in the Arabian Peninsula and India. It has been kept in zoos since the early 19th century.

In 1777, Johann Christian Daniel von Schreber described the cheetah based on a skin from the Cape of Good Hope and gave it the scientific name Felis jubatus.[11] Joshua Brookes proposed the generic name Acinonyx in 1828.[12] In 1917, Reginald Innes Pocock placed the cheetah in a subfamily of its own, Acinonychinae,[13] given its striking morphological resemblance to the greyhound and significant deviation from typical felid features; the cheetah was classified in Felinae in later taxonomic revisions.[14]

In 1975, five cheetah subspecies were considered valid taxa: A. j. hecki, A. j. jubatus, A. j. raineyi, A. j. soemmeringii and A. j. venaticus.[19] In 2011, a phylogeographic study found minimal genetic variation between A. j. jubatus and A. j. raineyi; only four subspecies were identified.[20] In 2017, the Cat Classification Task Force of the IUCN Cat Specialist Group revised felid taxonomy and recognised these four subspecies as valid. Their details are tabulated below:[19][21]

Extinct North American cheetah-like cats had historically been classified in Felis, Puma or Acinonyx; two such species, F. studeri and F. trumani, were considered to be closer to the puma than the cheetah, despite their close similarities to the latter. Noting this, palaeontologist Daniel Adams proposed Miracinonyx, a new subgenus under Acinonyx, in 1979 for the North American cheetah-like cats;[35] this was later elevated to genus rank.[36] Adams pointed out that North American and Old World cheetah-like cats may have had a common ancestor, and Acinonyx might have originated in North America instead of Eurasia.[35] However, subsequent research has shown that Miracinonyx is phylogenetically closer to the cougar than the cheetah;[37] the similarities to cheetahs have been attributed to parallel evolution.[30]

The diploid number of chromosomes in the cheetah is 38, the same as in most other felids.[45] The cheetah was the first felid observed to have unusually low genetic variability among individuals,[46] which has led to poor breeding in captivity, increased spermatozoal defects, high juvenile mortality and increased susceptibility to diseases and infections.[47][48] A prominent instance was the deadly feline coronavirus outbreak in a cheetah breeding facility of Oregon in 1983 which had a mortality rate of 60%, higher than that recorded for previous epizootics of feline infectious peritonitis in any felid.[49] The remarkable homogeneity in cheetah genes has been demonstrated by experiments involving the major histocompatibility complex (MHC); unless the MHC genes are highly homogeneous in a population, skin grafts exchanged between a pair of unrelated individuals would be rejected. Skin grafts exchanged between unrelated cheetahs are accepted well and heal, as if their genetic makeup were the same.[50][51]

The king cheetah is a variety of cheetah with a rare mutation for cream-coloured fur marked with large, blotchy spots and three dark, wide stripes extending from the neck to the tail.[52] In Manicaland, Zimbabwe, it was known as nsuifisi and thought to be a cross between a leopard and a hyena.[53] In 1926, Major A. Cooper wrote about a cheetah-like animal he had shot near modern-day Harare, with fur as thick as that of a snow leopard and spots that merged to form stripes. He suggested it could be a cross between a leopard and a cheetah. As more such individuals were observed it was seen that they had non-retractable claws like the cheetah.[54][55]

In 1927, Pocock described these individuals as a new species by the name of Acinonyx rex ("king cheetah").[54] However, in the absence of proof to support his claim, he withdrew his proposal in 1939. Abel Chapman considered it a colour morph of the normally spotted cheetah.[56] Since 1927, the king cheetah has been reported five more times in the wild in Zimbabwe, Botswana and northern Transvaal; one was photographed in 1975.[53]

In 1981, two female cheetahs that had mated with a wild male from Transvaal at the De Wildt Cheetah and Wildlife Centre (South Africa) gave birth to one king cheetah each; subsequently, more king cheetahs were born at the centre.[56] In 2012, the cause of this coat pattern was found to be a mutation in the gene for transmembrane aminopeptidase (Taqpep), the same gene responsible for the striped "mackerel" versus blotchy "classic" pattern seen in tabby cats.[57] The appearance is caused by reinforcement of a recessive allele; hence if two mating cheetahs are heterozygous carriers of the mutated allele, a quarter of their offspring can be expected to be king cheetahs.[58]

The cheetah is superficially similar to the leopard, which has a larger head, fully retractable claws, rosettes instead of spots, lacks tear streaks and is more muscular.[63][70] Moreover, the cheetah is taller than the leopard. The serval also resembles the cheetah in physical build, but is significantly smaller, has a shorter tail and its spots fuse to form stripes on the back.[71] The cheetah appears to have evolved convergently with canids in morphology and behaviour; it has canine-like features such as a relatively long snout, long legs, a deep chest, tough paw pads and blunt, semi-retractable claws.[72][73] The cheetah has often been likened to the greyhound, as both have similar morphology and the ability to reach tremendous speeds in a shorter time than other mammals,[66][69] but the cheetah can attain much higher maximum speeds.[74]

The cheetah resembles the smaller cats in cranial features, and in having a long and flexible spine, as opposed to the stiff and short one in other large felids.[2] The roughly triangular skull has light, narrow bones and the sagittal crest is poorly developed, possibly to reduce weight and enhance speed. The mouth can not be opened as widely as in other cats given the shorter length of muscles between the jaw and the skull.[58][63] A study suggested that the limited retraction of the cheetah's claws may result from the earlier truncation of the development of the middle phalanx bone in cheetahs.[75]

The cheetah has a total of 30 teeth; the dental formula is 3.1.3.13.1.2.1. The sharp, narrow carnassial molars are larger than those of leopards and lions, suggesting the cheetah can consume a larger amount of food in a given time period. The small, flat canines are used to bite the throat and suffocate the prey. A study gave the bite force quotient (BFQ) of the cheetah as 119, close to that for the lion (112), suggesting that adaptations for a lighter skull may not have reduced the power of the cheetah's bite.[2][10] Unlike other cats, the cheetah's canines have no gap or diastema behind them when the jaws close, as the top and bottom cheek teeth show extensive overlap; this equips the upper and lower teeth to effectively tear through the meat, and prevent the canines of penetrate fully the hide and meat so the cheetah has to kill by closing the trachea and suffocating its prey.[59] The slightly curved claws, shorter and straighter than those of other cats, lack a protective sheath and are partly retractable.[58][61] The claws are blunt due to lack of protection,[64] but the large and strongly curved dewclaw is remarkably sharp.[85] Cheetahs have a high concentration of nerve cells arranged in a band in the centre of the eyes, a visual streak, the most efficient among felids. This significantly sharpens the vision and enables the cheetah to swiftly locate prey against the horizon.[59][86] The cheetah is unable to roar due to the presence of a sharp-edged vocal fold within the larynx.[2][87]

The cheetah is the world's fastest land animal.[88][89][90][91][92] Estimates of the maximum speed attained range from 80 to 128 km/h (50 to 80 mph).[58][61] A commonly quoted value is 112 km/h (70 mph), recorded in 1957, but this measurement is disputed.[93] In 2012, an 11-year-old cheetah from the Cincinnati Zoo set a world record by running 100 m (330 ft) in 5.95 seconds over a set run, recording a maximum speed of 98 km/h (61 mph).[94]

Cheetahs have a flexible and complex social structure and tend to be more gregarious than several other cats (except the lion). Individuals typically avoid one another but are generally amicable; males may fight over territories or access to females in oestrus, and on rare occasions such fights can result in severe injury and death. Females are not social and have minimal interaction with other individuals, barring the interaction with males when they enter their territories or during the mating season. Some females, generally mother and offspring or siblings, may rest beside one another during the day. Females tend to lead a solitary life or live with offspring in undefended home ranges; young females often stay close to their mothers for life but young males leave their mother's range to live elsewhere.[58][61][64]

Males in a coalition are affectionate toward each other, grooming mutually and calling out if any member is lost; unrelated males may face some aversion in their initial days in the group. All males in the coalition typically have equal access to kills when the group hunts together, and possibly also to females who may enter their territory.[114] A coalition generally has a greater chance of encountering and acquiring females for mating; however, its large membership demands greater resources than do solitary males.[61][64] A 1987 study showed that solitary and grouped males have a nearly equal chance of coming across females, but the males in coalitions are notably healthier and have better chances of survival than their solitary counterparts.[115]

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