Guépard vs Common Pinmould

Acinonyx jubatus compared with Mucor mucedo

Key Differences

Guépard is Vulnerable while Common Pinmould is Not Evaluated.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Guépard	Common Pinmould
Kingdom	Animalia (animal)	Fungi (Fungi)
Phylum	Chordata (Chordates)	Mucoromycota (Mucoromycota)
Class	Mammalia (mammifères)	Mucoromycetes (Mucoromycetes)
Order	Carnivora (carnivores)	Mucorales (Mucorales)
Family	Felidae (Cats)	Mucoraceae
Genus	Acinonyx (Cheetahs)	Mucor
Species	Acinonyx jubatus	Mucor mucedo

Conservation Status

Guépard

VU — Vulnerable

Population: ~6.7K

Trend: Decreasing ↓

Common Pinmould

NE — Not Evaluated

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Guépard	Common Pinmould
Diet	Carnivore	—
Average Lifespan	12 years	—
Average Length	1.5 m	—
Average Weight	50.0 kg	—

Habitat & Geographic Range

Guépard

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.

Common Pinmould

Habitat

Native to Europe and South America, inhabiting ecosystems characteristic of the region.

Range

Distributed across Belgium, Brazil, Denmark, and Norway.

Guépard

The fastest land animal on Earth, reaching speeds of 112 km/h over short distances across African and Iranian grasslands. Slender build with a deep chest, long legs, and distinctive black tear-stripe markings. Unlike other big cats, cheetahs vocalize with chirps and purrs. Vulnerable, with only ~7,000 remaining due to habitat fragmentation and competition with larger predators.

Common Pinmould

<em>Mucor mucedo</em>, the common pin mould, is a zygomycete fungus in the family Mucoraceae, belonging to one of the earliest-diverging lineages of terrestrial fungi. It is characterised by long, unbranched sporangiophores topped with spherical, pin-like sporangia that release large numbers of asexual spores, giving infested substrates a grey or white mouldy appearance. The species is a saprotrophic decomposer, typically colonising dung, soil, decaying organic matter, and stored food products, where it plays a role in nutrient cycling and organic matter breakdown. <em>Mucor mucedo</em> is distributed across Europe, with records from Belgium, Denmark, and Norway, and in South America including Brazil, and is likely cosmopolitan given the ease with which its spores disperse through the air. It is assessed as Not Evaluated on the IUCN Red List, as fungal conservation assessments remain incomplete globally. Sexual reproduction involves the fusion of compatible mating types to produce resistant zygospores. Biological traits such as colony growth rates under standardised conditions, typical biomass production, and detailed ecological roles beyond general decomposition remain poorly documented in the scientific literature. The species is non-pathogenic to healthy humans but may cause opportunistic infections in immunocompromised individuals.