Acinonyx - Fictional Cheetahs, Asiatic Cheetah, Cheetor, Duma, Cheetah Conservation Fund, Chester Cheetah, Northwest African Cheetah (Paperback)

Please note that the content of this book primarily consists of articles available from Wikipedia or other free sources online. Pages: 29. Chapters: Fictional cheetahs, Asiatic Cheetah, Cheetor, Duma, Cheetah Conservation Fund, Chester Cheetah, Northwest African Cheetah, List of fictional cheetahs, Acinonyx kurteni, Giant Cheetah, Cheetah Conservation Foundation. Excerpt: The cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus) is a large-sized feline (family Felidae) inhabiting most of Africa and parts of the Middle East. The cheetah is the only extant member of the genus Acinonyx, most notable for modifications in the species' paws. As such, it is the only felid with non-retractable claws and pads that, by their scope, disallow gripping (therefore cheetah cannot climb vertical trees, although they are generally capable of reaching easily accessible branches). The cheetah, however, achieves by far the fastest land speed of any living animal-between 112 and 120 km/h (70 and 75 mph) in short bursts covering distances up to 500 m (1,600 ft), and has the ability to accelerate from 0 to over 100 km/h (62 mph) in three seconds. The word "cheetah" is derived from the Sanskrit word, meaning "variegated," via the Hindi c t . The genus name, Acinonyx, means "no-move-claw" in Greek, while the species name, jubatus, means "maned" in Latin, a reference to the mane found in cheetah cubs. Cheetah mother with cubThe cheetah has unusually low genetic variability. This is accompanied by a very low sperm count, motility, and deformed flagella. Skin grafts between unrelated cheetahs illustrate the former point in that there is no rejection of the donor skin. It is thought that the species went through a prolonged period of inbreeding following a genetic bottleneck during the last ice age. This suggests that genetic monomorphism did not prevent the cheetah from flourishing across two continents for thousands of years. The cheetah likely evolved in Africa during the Miocene epoch (26 million to 7.5 mil...