Editing Cheetah (section)

==Taxonomy==
[[File:Felisjubatus.jpg|thumb|An illustration of the "woolly cheetah" (described as ''Felis lanea'') from the ''[[Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London]]'' (1877)|alt=Illustration of the woolly cheetah (Felis lanea) published in the Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London in 1877]]

In 1777, [[Johann Christian Daniel von Schreber]] described the cheetah based on a skin from the [[Cape of Good Hope]] and gave it the [[Biological nomenclature|scientific name]] ''Felis jubatus''.<ref>{{cite book |last=Schreber |first=J. C. D. |author-link=Johann Christian Daniel von Schreber |year=1777 |chapter=Der Gepard (The cheetah) |title=Die Säugthiere in Abbildungen nach der Natur mit Beschreibungen |volume=Dritter Theil |trans-title=The Mammals in Illustrations according to Nature with Descriptions |publisher=Wolfgang Walther |location=Erlangen |pages=392–393 |chapter-url=https://digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/diglit/schreber1875textbd3/0112/image |language=de |access-date=19 February 2019 |archive-date=28 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230328013046/https://digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/diglit/schreber1875textbd3/0112/image |url-status=live}}</ref> [[Joshua Brookes]] proposed the [[Genus (biology)|generic]] name ''Acinonyx'' in 1828.<ref>{{cite book |last=Brookes |first=J. |author-link=Joshua Brookes |year=1828 |title=A Catalogue of the Anatomical and Zoological Museum of Joshua Brookes |location=London |publisher=[[Richard Taylor (editor)|Richard Taylor]] |page=16 |chapter=Section Carnivora |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/b22475886/page/16}}</ref> In 1917, [[Reginald Innes Pocock]] placed the cheetah in a subfamily of its own, Acinonychinae,<ref name=Pocock1917>{{cite journal |last1=Pocock |first1=R. I. |author-link=Reginald Innes Pocock |year=1917 |title=The classification of the existing Felidae |journal=[[Annals and Magazine of Natural History]] |series=Series 8 |volume=XX |issue=119 |pages=329–350 |doi=10.1080/00222931709487018 |url=https://archive.org/stream/annalsmagazineof8201917lond#page/332/mode/2up}}</ref> 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.<ref name=caro1994/>

In the 19th and 20th centuries, several cheetah [[zoological specimen]]s were described; some were proposed as [[subspecies]].<ref name=MSW3>{{MSW3 Wozencraft |id=14000006 |pages=532–533 |heading=''Acinonyx jubatus''}}</ref>
A South African specimen with notably dense fur was proposed as (''Felis lanea'') by [[Philip Sclater]] in 1877 and became known as the "woolly cheetah".<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Sclater |first1=P. |author-link=Philip Sclater |title=The secretary on additions to the menagerie |journal=[[Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London]] |date=1877 |volume=1877:May-Dec. |pages=530–533 |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/90449#page/202/mode/1up |access-date=3 January 2020 |archive-date=20 July 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190720141620/https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/90449#page/202/mode/1up |url-status=live}}</ref> Its classification as a species was mostly disputed.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Lydekker |first1=R. |author-link=Richard Lydekker |title=The Royal Natural History |volume=1 |date=1893 |publisher=[[Frederick Warne & Co.]] |location=London |pages=442–446 |chapter=The hunting leopard |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/royalnaturalhist01lydeuoft/page/442}}</ref> There has been considerable confusion in the nomenclature of the cheetah and [[leopard]] (''Panthera pardus'') as authors often confused the two; some considered "hunting leopards" an independent species, or equal to the leopard.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Baker |first1=E. D. |title=Sport in Bengal: and How, When and Where to Seek it |date=1887 |publisher=Ledger, Smith & Co |location=London |pages=205–221 |url=https://archive.org/details/sportinbengalhow00bakerich/page/205}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Sterndale |first1=R. A. |title=Natural History of the Mammalia of India and Ceylon |date=1884 |publisher=Thacker, Spink & Co |location=Calcutta |pages=175–178 |url=https://archive.org/details/naturalhistoryof00ster/page/175}}</ref>

===Subspecies===
In 1975, five cheetah subspecies were considered [[Valid name (zoology)|valid]] [[Taxon|taxa]]: ''A. j. hecki'', ''A. j. jubatus'', ''A. j. raineyi'', ''A. j. soemmeringii'' and ''A. j. venaticus''.<ref name=Catsg2017/> In 2011, a [[Phylogeography|phylogeographic]] study found minimal [[genetic variation]] between ''A. j. jubatus'' and ''A. j. raineyi''; only four subspecies were identified.<ref name=subspecies>{{cite journal |last1=Charruau |first1=P. |last2=Fernandes |first2=C. |last3=Orozco-terwengel |first3=P. |last4=Peters |first4=J. |last5=Hunter |first5=L. |last6=Ziaie |first6=H. |last7=Jourabchian |first7=A. |last8=Jowkar |first8=H. |last9=Schaller |first9=G. |last10=Ostrowski|first10=S. |last11=Vercammen |first11=P. |last12=Grange |first12=T. |last13=Schlotterer |first13=C. |last14=Kotze |first14=A. |last15=Geigl |first15=E. M. |last16=Walzer |first16=C. |last17=Burger |first17=P. A. |name-list-style=amp |title=Phylogeography, genetic structure and population divergence time of cheetahs in Africa and Asia: evidence for long-term geographic isolates |journal=[[Molecular Ecology]] |year=2011 |volume=20 |issue=4 |pages=706–724 |doi=10.1111/j.1365-294X.2010.04986.x |pmid=21214655 |pmc=3531615 |bibcode=2011MolEc..20..706C}}</ref> 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:<ref name=Catsg2017/>

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Subspecies !! Details !! Image !! Range map
|- style="vertical-align: top;"
|[[Southeast African cheetah]]<br>(''A. j. jubatus'') {{small|(Schreber, 1775)}}<br>[[Synonym (taxonomy)|syn.]] ''A. j. raineyi''<br>{{small|[[Edmund Heller|Heller]], 1913}}<ref name=heller>{{cite journal |author=Heller, E. |year=1913 |title=New races of carnivores and baboons from equatorial Africa and Abyssinia |journal=[[Smithsonian Contributions and Studies Series|Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections]] |volume=61 |issue=19 |pages=1–12}}</ref>
|The [[Nominate subspecies|nominate]] subspecies;<ref name=MSW3/> it [[Genetic divergence|genetically diverged]] from the Asiatic cheetah 67,000–32,000 years ago.<ref name="subspecies"/> As of 2016, the largest population of nearly 4,000 individuals is sparsely distributed in [[Angola]], [[Botswana]], [[Mozambique]], [[Namibia]], [[South Africa]] and [[Zambia]].<ref name=durant2017/>
|[[File:Cheetah, Masai Mara (52448476886).jpg|frameless|alt=Southeast African cheetah in Masai Mara, Kenya]]
|[[File:Acinonyx jubatus jubatus range IUCN 2015.png|frameless]]
|- style="vertical-align: top;"
|[[Asiatic cheetah]]<br>(''A. j. venaticus'') {{small|[[Edward Griffith (zoologist)|Griffith]], 1821}}<ref name=griffith>{{cite book |last=Griffith |first=E. |year=1821 |title=General and Particular Descriptions of the Vertebrated Animals, arranged Conformably to the Modern Discoveries and Improvements in Zoology. Order Carnivora |location=London |publisher=Baldwin, Cradock and Joy |chapter=''Felis venatica'' |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/generalparticula00grif/page/n149 |page=93}}</ref>
|This subspecies is confined to central Iran, and is the only surviving cheetah population in Asia.<ref name=marker4>{{cite book |editor1=Marker, L. |editor2=Boast, L. K. |editor3=Schmidt-Kuentzel, A. |title=Cheetahs: Biology and Conservation |date=2018 |publisher=Academic Press |location=London |isbn=978-0-12-804088-1 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=H3rXDgAAQBAJ&pg=33 |pages=33–54 |chapter=Cheetah rangewide status and distribution |last1=Marker |first1=L. |last2=Cristescu |first2=B. |last3=Morrison |first3=T. |last4=Flyman |first4=M. V. |last5=Horgan |first5=J. |last6=Sogbohossou |first6=E. A. |last7=Bissett |first7=C. |last8=van der Merwe |first8=V. |last9=Machado |first9=I. B. de M. |last10=Fabiano |first10=E. |last11=van der Meer |first11=E. |last12=Aschenborn |first12=O. |last13=Melzheimer |first13=J. |last14=Young-Overton |first14=K. |last15=Farhadinia |first15=M. S. |last16=Wykstra |first16=M. |last17=Chege |first17=M. |last18=Abdoulkarim |first18=S. |last19=Amir |first19=O. G. |last20=Mohanun |first20=A. S. |last21=Paulos |first21=O. D. |last22=Nhabonga |first22=A. R. |last23=M'soka |first23=J. L. J. |last24=Belbachir |first24=F. |last25=Ashenafi |first25=Z. T. |last26=Nghikembua |first26=M. T. |name-list-style=amp |access-date=19 April 2020 |archive-date=7 April 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220407160713/https://books.google.com/books?id=H3rXDgAAQBAJ&pg=33 |url-status=live}}</ref> As of 2022, only 12 individuals were estimated to survive in Iran, nine of which are males and three of which are females.<ref>{{cite web |date=10 January 2022 |title=Iran says only 12 Asiatic cheetahs left in the country |website=The Times of Israel |url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/iran-says-only-12-asiatic-cheetahs-left-in-the-country/|url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220110082914/https://www.timesofisrael.com/iran-says-only-12-asiatic-cheetahs-left-in-the-country/ |archive-date=10 January 2022}}</ref> 
|[[File:Iranian Cheetah roars.jpg|frameless]]
|[[File:Acinonyx jubatus venaticus range IUCN 2015.png|frameless]]
|- style="vertical-align: top;"
|[[Northeast African cheetah]]<br>(''A. j. soemmeringii'') {{small|[[Leopold Fitzinger|Fitzinger]], 1855}}<ref>{{cite book |last=Fitzinger |first=L. |year=1855 |chapter=Bericht an die kaiserliche Akademie der Wissenschaften über die von dem Herrn Consultatsverweser Dr. Theodor v. Heuglin für die kaiserliche Menagerie zu Schönbrunn mitgebrachten lebenden Thiere [Report to the Imperial Academy of Sciences about the Consultant Administrator Dr. Theodor v. Heuglin about the Living Animals brought to the Imperial Menagerie at Schönbrunn] |title=Sitzungsberichte der Kaiserlichen Akademie der Wissenschaften. Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Classe |trans-title=Meeting Reports from the Imperial Academy of Sciences. Mathematical and Natural Science Class |pages=242–253 |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/sitzungsbericht171855kais/page/244 |language=de}}</ref>
|This subspecies occurs in the northern [[Central African Republic]], [[Chad]], [[Ethiopia]] and [[South Sudan]] in small and heavily fragmented populations; in 2016, the largest population of 238 individuals occurred in the northern CAR and southeastern Chad. It diverged genetically from the southeast African cheetah 72,000–16,000 years ago.<ref name=subspecies/>
|[[File:Cheetah in the shade DVIDS147321.jpg|frameless|alt=Northeast African cheetah resting on the ground in Djibouti City, Djibouti]]
|[[File:Acinonyx jubatus soemmeringii range IUCN 2015.png|frameless]]
|- style="vertical-align: top;"
|[[Northwest African cheetah]]<br>(''A. j. hecki'') {{small|[[:de: Max Hilzheimer|Hilzheimer]], 1913}}<ref>{{cite book |last=Hilzheimer |first=M. |year=1913 |chapter=Über neue Gepparden nebst Bemerkungen über die Nomenklatur dieser Tiere  |trans-chapter=About new cheetahs and comments about the nomenclature of these animals |language=de |title=Sitzungsberichte der Gesellschaft Naturforschender Freunde zu Berlin |trans-title=Meeting Reports of the Society of Friends of Natural Science in Berlin |pages=283–292 |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/sitzungsberichte1913gese/page/n311}}</ref>
|This subspecies occurs in [[Algeria]], [[Benin]], [[Burkina Faso]], [[Mali]] and [[Niger]].<ref name=iucn/> In 2016, the largest population of 191 individuals occurred in [[Adrar des Ifoghas]], Ahaggar and [[Tassili n'Ajjer]] in south-central Algeria and northeastern Mali.<ref name=marker4/> It is listed as critically endangered on the IUCN Red List.<ref name=iucn3>{{cite iucn |author1=Durant, S. |author2=Marker, L. |author3=Purchase, N. |author4=Belbachir, F. |author5=Hunter, L. |author6=Packer, C. |author7=Breitenmoser-Würsten, C. |author8=Sogbohossou, E. |author9=Bauer, H. |name-list-style=amp |year=2008 |page=e.T221A13035738 |title=''Acinonyx jubatus'' ssp. ''hecki'' |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2008.RLTS.T221A13035738.en}}</ref>
|[[File:Acinonyx jubatus ssp. hecki in Idlès 1.jpg|frameless|alt=Northwest African cheetah resting on the ground in Idlès, Algeria]]
|[[File:Acinonyx jubatus hecki range IUCN 2015.png|frameless]]
|}