Chita vs Coffee Grove Salamander

Acinonyx jubatus compared with Aquiloeurycea cafetalera

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Chita	Coffee Grove Salamander
Kingdom same	Animalia (Animals)	Animalia (Animals)
Phylum same	Chordata (cordados)	Chordata (cordados)
Class	Mammalia (mamíferos)	Amphibia (Amphibians)
Order	Carnivora (carnívoros)	Caudata (Urodela)
Family	Felidae (Cats)	Plethodontidae
Genus	Acinonyx (Cheetahs)	Aquiloeurycea
Species	Acinonyx jubatus	Aquiloeurycea cafetalera

Evolutionary Relationship

Chita and Coffee Grove Salamander share a common ancestor at the Phylum level: Chordata. (cordados)

Conservation Status

Chita

VU — Vulnerable

Population: ~6.7K

Trend: Decreasing ↓

Coffee Grove Salamander

VU — Vulnerable

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Chita	Coffee Grove Salamander
Diet	Carnivore	—
Average Lifespan	12 years	—
Average Length	1.5 m	—
Average Weight	50.0 kg	—

Habitat & Geographic Range

Chita

Habitat

Found across multiple habitat types including tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests, tropical and subtropical grasslands and savannas, and flooded grasslands and savannas, among 9 distinct biome types spanning the Afrotropic and Palearctic realms. Populations are also found in montane and highland environments at higher elevations.

Range

Distributed across Botswana, Iran, Kenya, Namibia, and Tanzania. Currently classified as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List, this species faces significant conservation challenges across its range.

Coffee Grove Salamander

Habitat

Typically found in freshwater habitats, moist forests, and wetlands.

Range

Found in Mexico. Currently classified as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List, this species faces significant conservation challenges across its range.

Chita

El guepardo es el animal terrestre más rápido de la Tierra, alcanzando velocidades de 112 km/h en distancias cortas en las praderas de África e Irán. Complexión esbelta con un pecho profundo, patas largas y distintivas marcas negras en forma de lágrima. A diferencia de otros grandes felinos, los guepardos vocalizan con chirridos y ronroneos. Vulnerable, con solo ~7.000 individuos restantes debido a la fragmentación del hábitat y la competencia con depredadores más grandes.

Coffee Grove Salamander

The Coffee Grove Salamander (Aquiloeurycea cafetalera) is a small, fully terrestrial plethodontid salamander in the family Plethodontidae, endemic to the cloud forests and coffee agroforestry zones of the Sierra de Juárez in the Mexican state of Oaxaca. Like all plethodontid salamanders, it is lungless, relying entirely on cutaneous gas exchange through its moist skin, making it exquisitely sensitive to desiccation and temperature changes. Adults are slender, with a reddish-brown dorsum and light-coloured venter, typically measuring 5–8 centimetres in total length. The species inhabits cool, humid cloud forest floor environments and the leaf litter and bark of shade-grown coffee plantations at elevations approximately between 1,500 and 2,500 metres—an association that gives it its common name. The presence of this salamander in coffee agroforestry systems highlights the biodiversity value of traditional shade-grown cultivation compared to sun-grown monocultures. The Coffee Grove Salamander is classified as Vulnerable by the IUCN due to its restricted distribution, estimated extent of occurrence below 5,000 square kilometres, and ongoing threats from habitat loss through deforestation, conversion to sun-grown coffee cultivation, and climate-driven changes to cloud forest conditions. No ex situ conservation programmes are known to be in place.