genus
Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...
of
hyena
Hyenas or hyaenas ( ; from Ancient Greek , ) are feliform carnivoran mammals belonging to the 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 sma ...
containing the largest extant member of the
family
Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...
, the
spotted hyena
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 IUC ...
''(Crocuta crocuta)''. Several
fossil
A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserve ...
species
A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...
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
Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...
or
Asia
Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...
, 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
The Chibanian, more widely known as the Middle Pleistocene (its previous informal name), is an Age (geology), age in the international geologic timescale or a Stage (stratigraphy), stage in chronostratigraphy, being a division of the Pleistocen ...
, replacing the giant hyena ''
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 average ...
''.
The Eurasian " cave hyenas" (''Crocuta spelaea'', ''Crocuta ultima'' and others) have either been considered subspecies of the living spotted hyena, or as distinct species. Genetic analysis of cave hyenas have found them to be strongly genetically divergent from living African spotted hyenas, albeit with some evidence of limited interbreeding between the two populations.
Two
extinct
Extinction is the termination of an organism by the death of its Endling, last member. A taxon may become Functional extinction, functionally extinct before the death of its last member if it loses the capacity to Reproduction, reproduce and ...
species are known to have coexisted with each other in eastern Africa during the
Pliocene
The Pliocene ( ; also Pleiocene) is the epoch (geology), epoch in the geologic time scale that extends from 5.33 to 2.58niche in regards to their preference for
scavenging
Scavengers are animals that consume dead organisms that have died from causes other than predation or have been killed by other predators. While scavenging generally refers to carnivores feeding on carrion, it is also a herbivorous feeding be ...
or
hunting
Hunting is the Human activity, human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, and killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to obtain the animal's body for meat and useful animal products (fur/hide (sk ...
Morocco
Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...
, lived the species ''Crocuta dbaa''. In
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
there was a Pliocene species, ''Crocuta honanensis'', The holotype of ''Crocuta sivalensis'' from the Indian subcontinent has been determined to be a specimen of ''
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 includin ...