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One of the most misunderstood animals; spotted hyenas have a reputation as being sly and cowardly, but are in fact fascinating and intelligent with a remarkable social system (2). In appearance they are dog-like, with high shoulders and powerful forequarters sloping down to their hindquarters (2). Female spotted hyenas can be up to 14 percent heavier than males (3). Their coarse, short hair is sandy, ginger, dull grey or brown, and they get their name from the dark spots on their back, flanks, rump and legs, which fade with age (2) (3). A short mane ends just behind the shoulders, and the short, brown tail has a black, bushy tip (3). The spotted hyena is the second largest carnivore in Africa after the lion (3), and possesses incredibly strong jaws and teeth, enabling them to crush heavy bones to obtain the nutritious marrow within (2).
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Rights holder/Author | Copyright Wildscreen 2003-2008 |
Source | http://www.arkive.org/spotted-hyena/crocuta-crocuta/ |
Crocuta crocuta has a sandy, yellowish or gray coat with black or dark brown spots on the over most of the body. The spots are darkest in younger animals and can be almost completely absent in very old animals. The coat is very coarse and wooly. The body length from head to tail is about 95 to 150 cm and the height at the shoulder is reported from about 75 cm to 85cm. The tail is about 30 to 36 cm long and ends in a bushy black tip. About two-thirds of the tail is composed of bone with the other one-third being solely hair. Crocuta crocuta is sexually dimorphic with females weighing around 6.6 kg more than males. Male weight ranges from about 45 to 60 kg whereas females weigh 55 to over 70 kg. Crocuta crocuta is strongly built, with a massive neck and large head topped by rounded ears, unlike the other hyaenas. The jaws are probably the strongest in relation to size of any mammal. The front legs are longer than the hind legs, which gives the back of C. crocuta a slightly odd, downward slope. The feet have four digits with short, non-retractable claws and broad toe pads.
C. crocuta females are extremely masculinated and the genitalia of females are almost indistinguishable from those of males. The clitoris is enlarged, looks like a penis, and is capable of erection. Females also have a pair of sacs in the genital region which are filled with fibrous tissue. These look much like a scrotum, but are covered with more hair than the male's scrotum. Thus, males and females look extremely similar. The female has no external vagina and must urinate, mate, and deliver young through the urogenital canal that exits through the pseudo-penis. High androgen levels were once thought to be a major cause of this masculinazation. One current hypothesis is that sexual mimicry is the driving force behind hyaena masculinization. Females that look like males may be protected from aggression from other females.
Range mass: 45 to 80 kg.
Range length: 95 to 150 cm.
Average length: 130 cm.
Other Physical Features: endothermic ; homoiothermic; bilateral symmetry
Sexual Dimorphism: female larger; ornamentation
- Muller, M., R. Wrangham. 2002. Sexual mimicry in hyenas. The Quarterly Review of Biology, 77/1: 3-16.
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Rights holder/Author | ©1995-2013, The Regents of the University of Michigan and its licensors |
Source | http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/accounts/Crocuta_crocuta/ |
The spotted hyena is well-known for being a scavenger, but it is also an adept hunter, capable of bringing down a wildebeest (3). Spotted hyenas live in clans and frequently hunt in groups, as cooperation can improve their hunting success. However, this often depends on prey availability; in the Ngorongoro Crate, large groups are required to kill a zebra, whilst in the southern Kalahari, gemsbok calves are the primary prey, for which a single hyena will suffice (2). Even when moving alone, spotted hyenas keep in touch with other members of their clan with whoops, yells and a manic cackle, which gave rise to their name 'laughing hyena' (2). Spotted hyenas eat with incredible speed, consuming everything except horns; a group of hyenas was observed demolishing an adult zebra in just 15 minutes (4). Each hyena clan occupies a territory and defends it against neighbouring clans. Female spotted hyenas, which are more aggressive than males (5), are the dominant sex. The clan is structured by a strict hierarchy where the highest ranking male is subordinate to the lowest ranking female (2) (4). The alpha female is the best fed in the clan (3). When around two and a half years of age, males leave the clan they were born in and work their way into a new clan, whereas females usually remain with the same clan for life (2) (4). Mature females usually give birth to one or two cubs a year, after a gestation period of 110 days (6). Males play no parental role to the cubs (3), which are born in dens with a set of teeth and their eyes already open. Within minutes of birth they can engage in aggressive interactions, which quickly lead to the establishment of a dominance hierarchy, with the dominant cub getting to control access to the mother's milk (2). Sometimes this aggression can lead to the death of the weaker cub (4) (7). The cubs are fed meat at nine months, leave the den at 9 to 12 months, but are not weaned until they are 12 to 16 months (8).
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Rights holder/Author | Copyright Wildscreen 2003-2008 |
Source | http://www.arkive.org/spotted-hyena/crocuta-crocuta/ |
Spotted hyenas (Crocuta crocuta) are the largest of the three hyena species. The earliest records first described hyenas as a dog hybrid but they are more closely related to cats. Spotted hyenas are identified by their sandy, yellowish coat with dark brown or black spots all over its body. These hyenas are strongly built and weigh between 50 – 86 kgs. Females tend to be larger than males but both sexes look similar to each other.
If your first instinct is to look between a hyena’s legs in order to tell the sexes apart, you’re in for a surprise. The genitalia of female hyenas are remarkably similar to their male counterparts. The current theory for this sexual mimicry is that females that look like males are protected from aggression from other females in the clan.
Spotted hyenas are renowned for their scavenging behaviour but they are skilled hunters as well. They have exceptional hearing and excellent night vision. A clan will work together to isolate a herd animal and pursue it to its death. Common prey items are antelope, wildebeest, zebra but they also consume birds, reptiles and insects. Spotted hyenas act aggressively toward each other when feeding but they compete with each other by the speed of eating instead of directly fighting with one another.
Spotted hyenas have the greatest parental investment in their young. Females have a litter of 1 – 4 cubs that are only weaned at 14 months. Typically, only two cubs are born. Their mother’s milk is extremely high in protein and fat and females are highly protective of them. At first, a female will not tolerate other hyenas around her cubs.
Spotted hyenas are listed as a species of Least Concern by the IUCN Red list.
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Rights holder/Author | MammalMAP, MammalMAP |
Source | http://mammalmap.blog.com/2013/07/15/spotted-hyena/ |
Spotted Hyaena are relatively widely distributed in Africa, south of the Sahara. Their distribution is patchy, especially in West Africa, with populations often concentrated in protected areas. More continuous distributions persist over large areas of Chad, Central African Republic, southern Sudan, Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Botswana, Angola, Namibia, and parts of South Africa. Hofer and Mills (1998a) reported the species as extinct in Algeria, where they may have occurred in the Ahaggar and Tassili d’Ajjer, and also report no recent records from Djibouti, Eritrea, Gabon, Gambia, and Togo; however, Künzel et al. (2000) report that Spotted Hyaena are still widespread in Djibouti, and Grubb et al. (1998) note the same for Gambia. Recently, Henschel and Ray (2003) reported images of a single Spotted Hyaena inside the Ivindo National Park in Gabon, where the species has not been recorded since eradication around 1950.
There is no confirmed evidence of their occurrence in Egypt, Liberia or Lesotho.
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Rights holder/Author | © International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources |
Source | http://www.iucnredlist.org/apps/redlist/details/5674 |
Type for Crocuta crocuta
Catalog Number: USNM 182078
Collection: Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of Natural History, Department of Vertebrate Zoology, Division of Mammals
Sex/Stage: Male; Adult
Preparation: Skin; Skull
Collector(s): E. Heller
Year Collected: 1911
Locality: Merille Waterholes, Marsabit Road, midway between the Northern Guaso Nyiro [= Ewaso Ngiro] River and Mount Marsabit, Eastern Province, Kenya, Africa
- Type: Heller, E. 1914 Jan 26. Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections. 61 (22): 5.
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Rights holder/Author | This image was obtained from the Smithsonian Institution. Unless otherwise noted, this image or its contents may be protected by international copyright laws. |
Source | http://collections.mnh.si.edu/search/mammals/?irn=7263436 |
The spotted hyena inhabits savannas, grasslands, woodlands and montane forest, up to altitudes of 4,000 meters (2) (4).
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Rights holder/Author | Copyright Wildscreen 2003-2008 |
Source | http://www.arkive.org/spotted-hyena/crocuta-crocuta/ |
Whilst most populations in protected areas in southern Africa appear to be stable, those in eastern and western Africa, including those within protected areas, are thought to be declining. Persecution appears to be the main reason for these declines. The spotted hyena is shot, poisoned, trapped and snared, even in protected areas. This frequently occurs in farming areas after actual or assumed hyena killing of livestock, or as a preventative measure to protect their livestock. A decline in habitat quality poses an additional threat to hyena populations outside of protected areas (4).
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Rights holder/Author | Copyright Wildscreen 2003-2008 |
Source | http://www.arkive.org/spotted-hyena/crocuta-crocuta/ |
The red-backed shrike breeds throughout most of Europe except for most of the northern areas, central and southern Iberia and many Mediterranean islands (3). It migrates via south-east Europe to tropical and southern Africa and north-west India for the winter (2). Formerly widespread throughout much of England and Wales, the species has undergone a drastic decline since the mid 19th century. By 1980 the species was found only in heathland in East Anglia, and in 1989 there were no confirmed records of breeding (4). Nesting in the UK has since been sporadic, with hopes of a natural recolonisation from Scandinavia after a number of pairs bred in Scotland between 1977-79 (4).
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Rights holder/Author | Copyright Wildscreen 2003-2008 |
Source | http://www.arkive.org/red-backed-shrike/lanius-collurio/ |
United States
Origin: Exotic
Regularity: Regularly occurring
Currently: Present
Confidence: Confident
Type of Residency: Year-round
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Rights holder/Author | NatureServe |
Source | http://explorer.natureserve.org/servlet/NatureServe?searchName=Serinus+mozambicus |