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A type of feline that is best known for its swift speed. Despite its size, the cheetah is not actually a 'big cat,' or member of the pantherinae subfamily. Their closest living relatives are the cougar and jaguarundi. It's thought that the Cheetah evolved in North America millions of years ago.

These felines are generally slender with a yellow, orange, or tan coat and black or brown spots.

These spots are small simple spots, except on king cheetahs, where the spots are larger and less tidy. Cheetahs generally have a rather distinctive marking: a black line running from the inner corner of the eye down and around the sides of the muzzle, called a 'tear mark.'

King Cheetahs are one distinct color mutation that cheetahs exhibit. Melanistic and albino animals have also been reported. Most unusually, some rare spotless cheetahs have been seen, exhibiting only a small splatter of brown fur and tiny spots along the lower back. This cheetah is called a white cheetah, or a tabby/ticked cheetah, referring to the genetics that resulted in this pattern.

Cheetahs are carnivores.

See also

• mammal
• feline
• cheetah
• king_cheetah