Contents

Taxonomy................................................................................................................................................1
Subspecies...............................................................................................................................................1
Phylogeny and evolution.........................................................................................................................2
History[edit]...........................................................................................................................................3
Etymology[edit].....................................................................................................................................3
Characteristics[edit]..............................................................................................................................4

turn comes from Sanskrit: चित्रय (Chitra-ya) meaning 'variegated', 'adorned' or 'painted'.[6] In the past,
the cheetah was often called "hunting leopard" because they could be tamed and used for coursing.
[7]
The generic name Acinonyx probably derives from the combination of
two Greek words: ἁκινητος (akinitos) meaning 'unmoved' or 'motionless', and ὄνυξ (onyx) meaning
'nail' or 'hoof'.[8] A rough translation is "immobile nails", a reference to the cheetah's limited ability to
retract its claws.[9] A similar meaning can be obtained by the combination of the Greek
prefix a– (implying a lack of) and κῑνέω (kīnéō) meaning 'to move' or 'to set in motion'.[10] The specific
name jubatus is Latin for 'crested, having a mane'.[11]
A few old generic names such as Cynailurus and Cynofelis allude to the similarities between the
cheetah and canids.[12]

Taxonomy

An illustration of the "woolly cheetah" (described as Felis

lanea) from the Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London (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 scientific name Felis jubatus.[13] Joshua Brookes proposed
the generic name Acinonyx in 1828.[14] In 1917, Reginald Innes Pocock placed the cheetah in a
subfamily of its own, Acinonychinae,[15] 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.[16]
In the 19th and 20th centuries, several cheetah specimens were described; some were proposed
as subspecies. An example is the South African specimen known as the "woolly cheetah", named for
its notably dense fur—this was described as a new species (Felis lanea) by Philip Sclater in 1877,
[17]
but the classification was mostly disputed.[18] There has been considerable confusion in the
nomenclature of cheetahs and leopards (Panthera pardus) as authors often confused the two; some
considered "hunting leopards" an independent species, or equal to the leopard. [19][20]

Subspecies
In 1975, five subspecies were considered valid taxa: A. j. hecki, A. j. jubatus, A. j. raineyi, A. j.
soemmeringii and A. j. venaticus.[21] In 2011, a phylogeographic study found minimal genetic
variation between A. j. jubatus and A. j. raineyi; only four subspecies were identified.[22] 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: [21][23]

Subspecies Details Image

Southeast African The nominate subspecies;[23] it geneticall

cheetah (A. j. y diverged from the Asiatic cheetah
jubatus) (Schreber, 67,000–32,000 years ago.[22] As of 2016,
1775), syn. A. j. the largest population of nearly 4,000
raineyi Heller, 1913[24] individuals is sparsely distributed in
Angola, Botswana, Mozambique,
Namibia, South Africa and Zambia.[25]

Asiatic cheetah (A. j. This subspecies is confined to central

venaticus) Griffith, Iran, and is the only surviving cheetah
1821[26] population in Asia.[27] As of 2022, only
12 individuals were estimated to survive
in Iran, nine of which are males and
three of which are females.[28]

Northeast African This subspecies occurs in the northern

cheetah (A. j. Central African Republic, Chad,
soemmeringii) Fitzinge Ethiopia and South Sudan in small and
r, 1855[29] 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.[22]

Northwest African This subspecies occurs in Algeria,

cheetah (A. j. Benin, Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger.
hecki) Hilzheimer, In 2016, the largest population of 191
[1]

1913[30] individuals occurred in Adrar des

Ifoghas, Ahaggar and Tassili n'Ajjer in
south-central Algeria and northeastern
Mali.[27] It is listed as Critically
Endangered on the IUCN Red List.[31]

Phylogeny and evolution

Lynx lineage
Lynx
Puma lineage Acinonyx
Cheetah
Puma
Cougar P. concolor
Herpailurus
Jaguarundi H. yagouaroundi
Domestic cat lineage
Felis
Leopard cat lineage
Otocolobus

Prionailurus

Husky is a general term for a dog used in the polar regions, primarily and specifically for work
as sled dogs. It refers to a traditional northern type, notable for its cold-weather tolerance and overall
hardiness.[1][2] Modern racing huskies that maintain arctic breed traits (also known as Alaskan
huskies) represent an ever-changing crossbreed of the fastest dogs.[3][4]
Huskies have continued to be used in sled-dog racing, as well as expedition and trek
style tour businesses, and as a means of essential transportation in rural communities.[5] Huskies are
also kept as pets, and groups work to find new pet homes for retired racing and adventure-trekking
dogs.[6]

Historyedit]
Further information: Origin of the domestic dog

Labrador huskies being fed by Inuit men

Nearly all dogs' genetic closeness to the gray wolf is due to admixture.[7] However, several Arctic
breeds also show a genetic closeness with the now-extinct Taimyr wolf of North Asia due to
admixture: the Siberian Husky and Greenland Dog (which are also historically associated with Arctic
human populations) and to a lesser extent, the Shar Pei and Finnish Spitz. An admixture graph of
the Greenland Dog indicates a best-fit of 3.5% shared material; however, an ancestry proportion
ranging between 1.4% and 27.3% is consistent with the data and indicates admixture between
the Taimyr wolf and the ancestors of these four high-latitude breeds.
This introgression could have provided early dogs living in high latitudes with phenotypic variation
beneficial for adaption to a new and challenging environment, contributing significantly to the
development of the husky. It also indicates that the ancestry of present-day dog breeds descends
from more than one region.[8]

Etymology[edit]

A Siberian Husky with heterochromia

The term "husky" first came into usage in the mid to late 1700s. At this time, "Esquimaux" or
"Eskimo" was a common term for pre-Columbian Arctic inhabitants of North America. Several
dialectal permutations were in use including Uskee, Uskimay and Huskemaw. Thus, dogs used by
Arctic people were the dogs of the Huskies, the Huskie's dogs, and eventually simply the husky
dogs.[9][10] Canadian and American settlers, not well versed on Russian geography, would later extend
the word to Chukotka sled dogs imported from Russia, thus giving rise to the term Siberian husky.

Characteristics[edit]
Huskies are energetic and athletic. They are distinguished by their hardiness and cold-weather
tolerance, in contrast to many modern sprint sled dogs derived from hound and pointer
crossbreeds and purebred sprinting dogs which do not have or retain these qualities.[11] Likewise,
they are distinguished from laika, as they were not developed for the primary purpose of hunting
game and prey animals.[12

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