Hyenas feature prominently in the folklore and mythology of human cultures with which they are sympatric. Of the dog-like hyena lineage, only the insectivorous aardwolf survived, while the bone-crushing hyenas (whose extant spotted, brown and striped hyenas) became the undisputed top scavengers of Eurasia and Africa. Although the dog-like hyenas thrived 15 million years ago (with one taxon having colonised North America), they became extinct after a change in climate along with the arrival of canids into Eurasia. Hyenas first arose in Eurasia during the Miocene period from viverrid-like ancestors, and soon became well known as being of two distinct types: the lightly built dog-like hyenas and the robust bone-crushing hyenas. With the exception of the highly social spotted hyena, hyenas are generally not gregarious animals, though they may live in family groups and congregate at kills.
Hyenas are primarily nocturnal animals, but sometimes venture from their lairs in the early-morning hours. Hyenas, especially spotted hyenas, are known for killing as much as 95% of the animals they eat, and for driving off leopards or lionesses from their kills, although they have long been regarded as being cowardly scavengers. However, the hyenas' grooming, scent marking, defecating habits, mating, and parental behaviour are consistent with the behaviour of other feliforms. ) Both eat food quickly and may store it, and their calloused feet with large, blunt, nonretractable nails are adapted for running and making sharp turns. (In fact, cheetah have been known to climb trees to escape hyenas. Īlthough phylogenetically they are closer to felines and viverrids, hyenas are behaviourally and morphologically similar to canines in several aspects both hyenas and canines are non arboreal, cursorial hunters that catch prey with their teeth rather than claws. Despite their low diversity, hyenas are unique and vital components of most African ecosystems. With only four extant species, it is the fifth-smallest biological family in the Carnivora, and one of the smallest in the class Mammalia. Hyenas or hyaenas (from Greek ὕαινα hýaina ) are the animals of the family Hyaenidae / h aɪ ˈ ɛ n d iː/ of the feliform suborder of the Carnivora. All extant species in descending order of size: Spotted hyena, brown hyena, striped hyena and aardwolf
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