Editing Acinonyx (section)

{{Short description|Genus of carnivores}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2020}}
{{Automatic taxobox
| fossil_range = [[Pliocene]] – [[Holocene]], {{fossilrange|3|0}}
| image = Cheetah Botswana.jpg
| image_caption = [[Cheetah]] (''Acinonyx jubatus'')
| taxon = Acinonyx
| authority = [[Joshua Brookes|Brookes]], 1828
| type_species = ''[[Acinonyx jubatus|Felis jubata]]''
| type_species_authority = [[Schreber]], 1775
| subdivision_ranks = Species
| subdivision = *''[[Cheetah|Acinonyx jubatus]]''
*{{extinct}}''[[Acinonyx aicha]]''
*{{extinct}}''[[Acinonyx intermedius]]''
*{{extinct}}''[[Acinonyx pardinensis]]''
*{{extinct}}''[[Acinonyx pleistocaenicus]]''
| synonyms = *''Cynailurus'' {{small|Wagner, 1830}}
*''Cynofelis'' {{small|Lesson, 1842}}
*''Guepar'' {{small|Boitard, 1842}}
*''Gueparda'' {{small|Gray, 1843}}
*''Guepardus'' {{small|Duvernoy, 1834}}
*''Paracinonyx'' {{small|[[Miklós Kretzoi|Kretzoi]], 1929}}
}}

'''''Acinonyx''''' is a [[genus]] within the [[Felidae]] [[family (biology)|family]].<ref name=msw3>{{MSW3 Wozencraft |pages=532–533 |id=14000005 |heading=Genus ''Acinonyx''}}</ref> The only living [[species]] of the genus, the [[cheetah]] (''A. jubatus''), lives in open [[grassland]]s of Africa and Asia.<ref name=Krausman2005>{{cite journal |last1=Krausman |first1=P. R. |last2=Morales |first2=S. M. |name-list-style=amp |year=2005 |title=''Acinonyx jubatus'' |journal=Mammalian Species |issue=771 |pages=1–6 | doi=10.1644/1545-1410(2005)771[0001:aj]2.0.co;2 |s2cid=198969000 |url=http://www.science.smith.edu/departments/biology/VHAYSSEN/msi/pdf/i1545-1410-771-1-1.pdf |access-date=2 July 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150703024054/http://www.science.smith.edu/departments/biology/VHAYSSEN/msi/pdf/i1545-1410-771-1-1.pdf |archive-date=3 July 2015 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

Several [[fossil]] remains of cheetah-like cats were [[Excavation (archaeology)|excavated]] that date to the late [[Pliocene]] and [[Middle Pleistocene]].<ref name=Hemmer2008>{{cite journal |author=Hemmer, H. |author2=Kahlke, R.-D. |author3=Keller, T. |year=2008 |title=Cheetahs in the Middle Pleistocene of Europe: ''Acinonyx pardinensis'' (sensu lato) ''intermedius'' (Thenius, 1954) from the Mosbach Sands (Wiesbaden, Hessen, Germany) |journal=Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie, Abhandlungen |volume=249 |issue=3 |pages=345–356 |doi=10.1127/0077-7749/2008/0249-0345}}</ref> 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 (genus)|Puma]]''.<ref name=Krausman2005/>