''Proteles'' is a genus of distinctive

hyenas Hyenas, or hyaenas (from Ancient Greek , ), are feliform carnivoran mammals of the family Hyaenidae . With only four extant species (each in its own genus), it is the fifth-smallest family in the Carnivora and one of the smallest in the cla ...

which contain the

aardwolf The aardwolf (''Proteles cristata'') is an insectivorous species of hyena, native to East and Southern Africa. Its name means "earth-wolf" in Afrikaans and Dutch. It is also called maanhaar-jackal (Afrikaans for " mane-jackal"), termite-eating ...

''(Proteles cristatus)'' and its close fossil relatives. It is the only genus of the subfamily Protelinae. While the oldest fossils definitely belonging to ''Proteles'' date back to the Pliocene, material from the Miocene dating to around 10 million years ago has been suggested to belong to the genus, which would significantly increase its temporal range. It has been suggested that the Protelinae subfamily is actually an offshoot of the "running hyenas" (such as '' Lycyaena'') who adapted to an insectivorous diet due to increased competition from canines and felines.

References

Mammal genera Mammal genera with one living species Hyenas Taxa named by Isidore Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire {{Carnivora-stub