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Hyenas
Hyenas or hyaenas ( ; from Ancient Greek , ) are feliformia, feliform carnivoran mammals belonging to the Family (biology), family Hyaenidae (). With just four extant species (each in its own genus), it is the fifth-smallest family in the order Carnivora and one of the smallest in the class Mammalia. Despite their low diversity, hyenas are unique and vital components of most African ecosystems. Although phylogenetics, phylogenetically closer to Felidae, felines and Viverridae, viverrids, hyenas are Ethology, behaviourally and Morphology (biology), morphologically similar to canidae, canids in several elements due to convergent evolution: both hyenas and canines are non-arboreal, cursorial hunters that catch prey with their teeth rather than claws. Both eat food quickly and may store it, and their calloused feet with large, blunt, nonretractable claws are adapted for running and making sharp turns. However, hyenas' grooming, scent marking, defecation habits, mating, and parental ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Crocuta Crocuta
The spotted hyena (''Crocuta crocuta''), also known as the laughing hyena, is a hyena species, currently classed as the sole extant member of the genus ''Crocuta'', native to sub-Saharan Africa. It is listed as being of least concern by the IUCN due to its widespread range and large numbers estimated between 27,000 and 47,000 individuals. The species is, however, experiencing declines outside of protected areas due to habitat loss and poaching. Populations of ''Crocuta'', usually considered a subspecies of ''Crocuta crocuta'', known as cave hyenas, roamed across Eurasia for at least one million years until the end of the Late Pleistocene. The spotted hyena is the largest extant member of the Hyaenidae, and is further physically distinguished from other species by its vaguely bear-like build, rounded ears, less prominent mane, spotted pelt, more dual-purposed dentition, fewer nipples, and #Female genitalia, pseudo-penis. It is the only placental mammalian species where females hav ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hyaena Hyaena
The striped hyena (''Hyaena hyaena'') is a species of hyena native to North and East Africa, the Middle East, the Caucasus, Central Asia, and the Indian subcontinent. It is the only extant species in the genus ''Hyaena''. It is listed by the IUCN as near-threatened, as the global population is estimated to be under 10,000 mature individuals which continues to experience deliberate and incidental persecution along with a decrease in its prey base such that it may come close to meeting a continuing decline of 10% over the next three generations. It is the smallest of the bone-cracking hyenas and retains many primitive viverrid-like characteristics lost in larger species, having a smaller and less specialised skull. Though primarily a scavenger, large specimens have been known to kill their own prey, and attacks on humans have occurred in rare instances. The striped hyena is a monogamous animal, with both males and females assisting one another in raising their cubs. A nocturnal ani ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pachycrocuta
''Pachycrocuta'' is an extinct genus of hyena. The largest and most well-researched species is ''Pachycrocuta brevirostris'', colloquially known as the giant short-faced hyena as it stood about at the shoulder and it is estimated to have averaged in weight, approaching the size of a lioness, making it one the largest known hyenas. It is often hypothesised to have been a specialised kleptoparasitic scavenger, using its imposing size to force other predators off of carcasses, though some authors have suggested they may have been effective pack hunters like living spotted hyenas. The precise time of the origin of the genus depends on what species are included, though the only unquestioned species of the genus, ''P. brevirostris'', had emerged by the Early Pleistocene (around 2.6-2 million years ago). Around 800,000 years ago at the end of the Early Pleistocene, it became locally extinct in Europe, with it surviving in East Asia until at least 500,000 years ago, and possibly later e ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Adcrocuta
''Adcrocuta'' is an extinct genus of large hyena that lived in Africa and Eurasia during the late Miocene epoch. Distribution and chronology Fossils of ''A. eximia'' are known from across Eurasia during the Vallesian-Turolian age of the Late Miocene (around 9.6-4.9 million years agoVíctor Vinuesa Joan Madurell-Malapeira, Josep Fortuny & David M. AlbaEndocranial morphology of the Late Miocene bone-cracking hyena ''Adcrocuta eximia'' (Carnivora, Hyaenidae) compared with extant hyenas XII ENCUENTRO DE JÓVENES INVESTIGADORES EN PALENTOLOGÍA (BOLTAÑA, 2014)), spanning from Europe, including Spain, North Macedonia, France, Romania, Greece, Hungary, Germany, Austria, Ukraine and Bulgaria, and Asia including Turkey, Kyrgyzstan, Kazkahstan, Iran, China, Tajikistan, Afghanistan and Pakistan. Description ''Adcrocuta'' was comparable in size to a living spotted hyena, with a body mass of around . Palaeoecology Like the modern day spotted hyena, ''A. eximia'' was an obligate car ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Crocuta
''Crocuta'' is a genus of hyena containing the largest extant member of the family, the spotted hyena ''(Crocuta crocuta)''. Several fossil species are also known, with the Pleistocene Eurasian cave hyenas either being regarded as distinct species or subspecies of the spotted hyena. Taxonomy It is still unclear whether the genus evolved in Africa or Asia, although the oldest known fossils are from Africa and dated to about 3.8 mya. The earliest remains from Asia currently attributed to the genus is ''Crocuta honanensis'' from the Early Pleistocene of China dating to around 2.5-2.2 million years ago, but its relationship to the living spotted hyena is ambiguous. ''Crocuta'' first appears in Europe around 800,000 years ago at the beginning of the Middle Pleistocene, replacing the giant hyena ''Pachycrocuta''. The Eurasian " cave hyenas" (''Crocuta spelaea'', ''Crocuta ultima'' and others) have either been considered subspecies of the living spotted hyena, or as distinct species. G ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chasmaporthetes
''Chasmaporthetes'', also known as hunting or running hyena, is an extinct genus of hyenas distributed in Eurasia, North America, and Africa during the Pliocene-Pleistocene epochs, living from 4.9 million to 780,000 years ago, existing for about . The genus probably arose from Eurasian Miocene hyenas such as ''Thalassictis'' or ''Lycyaena'', with ''C. borissiaki'' being the oldest known representative.Kurtén, Björn (1980) ''Pleistocene mammals of North America'', p. 199, Columbia University Press, 1980, The species ''C. ossifragus'' was the only hyena to cross the Bering land bridge into the Americas, and ranged over what is now Arizona and Mexico during Blancan and early Irvingtonian Land Mammal ages, between 5.0 and 1.5 million years ago.Macdonald, David (1992) ''The Velvet Claw: A Natural History of the Carnivores'', p. 119-144, New York: Parkwest, ''Chasmaporthetes'' was one of the so-called "dog-like" hyenas (of which the aardwolf is the only survivor), a hyaenid group wh ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ikelohyaena
''Ikelohyaena'' (from Greek language, Greek: ἴκελος ''íkelos'', 'like' and Latin: ''hyaena'', 'hyena') is an extinct genus of hyaenids that lived in Southern and Eastern Africa during the Pliocene. ''I. abronia'', the type and only known species, has been found in Lothagam, Langebaanweg, and possibly Laetoli. ''I. abronia'' was dated to approximately 5.2 million years ago. ''Ikelohyaena'' is regarded by some authors as a possible but highly skeptical common ancestor of the modern Striped hyena, striped hyenas and Brown hyena, brown hyenas or as an early species of the Lineage (genetic), lineage that lead to the striped hyena. ''Ikelohyaena'' had durophagous Adaptation, adaptations in its dentition but was less well-adapted to durophagy than modern durophagous hyaenids such as the striped hyena. Dental microwear analysis indicates that ''I. abronia'' consumed bone less frequently than modern durophagous hyaenids. Characteristics ''I. abronia'' was smaller than a striped ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pliocrocuta
''Pliocrocuta'' is an extinct genus of hyena. It contains the species ''Pliocrocuta perrieri'', known from the Pliocene to Early Pleistocene of Eurasia and possibly Africa. It is possibly ancestral to ''Pachycrocuta,'' with some authors including ''P. perrieri'' within ''Pachycrocuta''. It is largely known from cranial remains. The species is estimated to have weighed around on average, with its skull showing evidence for adaptation to bone cracking. It may have have been solitary, unlike living bone cracking spotted hyenas. ''P. perrieri'' first appeared during the Pliocene, around 4.2 million years ago. In the earliest Pleistocene (2.6-2 million years ago) of Europe, ''Pliocrocuta'' lived alongside the fellow hyena '' Chasmaporthetes,'' the sabertooth cats ''Megantereon'' and ''Homotherium,'' the giant cheetah '' Acinonyx pardinensis,'' the cougar-relative '' Puma pardoides,'' the primitive lynx ''Lynx issiodorensis'', the bear '' Ursus etruscus'', and the wild dog '' Xenocyo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Proteles Cristata
The aardwolf (''Proteles cristatus'') is an insectivorous hyaenid species, native to East and Southern Africa. Its name means "earth-wolf" in Afrikaans and Dutch. It is also called the maanhaar-jackal (Afrikaans for "mane-jackal"), termite-eating hyena and civet hyena, based on its habit of secreting substances from its anal gland, a characteristic shared with the African civet. Unlike many of its relatives in the order Carnivora, the aardwolf does not hunt large animals. It eats insects and their larvae, mainly termites; one aardwolf can lap up as many as 300,000 termites during a single night using its long, sticky tongue. The aardwolf's tongue has adapted to be tough enough to withstand the strong bite of termites. The aardwolf lives in the shrublands of eastern and southern Africa – open lands covered with stunted trees and shrubs. It is nocturnal, resting in burrows during the day and emerging at night to seek food. Taxonomy The aardwolf is generally classified as par ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ictitherium
''Ictitherium'' (meaning "weasel beast") is an extinct genus belonging to the family Hyaenidae and the subfamily Ictitheriinae erected by Trouessart in 1897. ''Ictitherium'' species were endemic to Africa and Eurasia during the Middle Miocene through the Early Pliocene Early may refer to: Places in the United States * Early, Iowa, a city * Early, Texas, a city * Early Branch, a stream in Missouri * Early County, Georgia * Fort Early, Georgia, an early 19th century fort Music * Early B, stage name of Jamaican d ... (12.7—5.3 mya) and existed approximately . Description ''Ictitherium'' were around long, and looked more like civets than modern hyenas, possessing a long body with short legs and a possibly short tail. It is speculated that ''I. viverrinum'' was an opportunistic feeder, and that it ate plants as well as medium-small mammals and birds. ''Ictitherium'' was a very successful and abundant genus, with multiple fossils often being found at a single site. Refere ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Proteles
''Proteles'' is a genus of distinctive hyenas which contain the aardwolf ''(Proteles cristatus)'' and its close fossil relatives. It is the only extant genus of the subfamily Protelinae. While the oldest fossils definitely belonging to ''Proteles'' date back to the Pliocene, material from the Miocene The Miocene ( ) is the first epoch (geology), geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about (Ma). The Miocene was named by Scottish geologist Charles Lyell; the name comes from the Greek words (', "less") and (', "new") and mea ... 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 Proelinae subfamily may actually be an offshoot of the "running hyenas" (such as '' Lycyaena'') who adapted to an insectivorous diet due to increased competition from canines and felines. References Carnivoran genera Mammal genera with one living species Hyenas ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
