Fossil Records: Hyenas originated in Miocene 22 million years ago with their Feliform ancestors being directly descended from Viverridae. The ancestors of Hyaena and Crocuta existed separately since the Miocene. It is believed based on fossil deposits that hyaena and Crocuta had similar origins in southern Africa expanding from there. While Hyaena Brunnea was originated and stayed in southern Africa most likely because of competition with Crocuta. C. Crocuta H. Brunnea Fossil data also suggests Hyaenidae’s last shared ancestor was with their Feliform sister taxon Oligocene 25 million years ago with the divergence occuring even earlier. Data also suggests the sister…show more content… The theorized cause of speciation of these clades is believed to be due to changes in available food sources and competition for limited resources.
Physical Descriptions:
Crocuta Crocuta: Has a sandy yellowish or gray coat with dark spots over most of the body with the spots being most vibrant in younger hyenas. Fur coat is very coarse and wooly. Body length of a spotted hyena is between 90 and 150 cm.. Spotted hyenas are sexually dimorphic with the females being larger than the males. Spotted Hyenas are strong built wih their jaw being their strongest feature. Their back legs are shorter than their front legs causing a slope in their back.
Hyaena Brunnea: Brown hyenas are medium-large carnivores with their average body length at 144cm.. H. Brunnea is the second largest hyena in the Hyaenidae family only passed by the spotted hyena. Forelegs are also larger then hind legs causing a slope in the back of the animal. The Brown Hyena is strong built in upper body and has large teeth in comparison to other larger carnivores. H. Brunnea is told apart by its long shaggy coat of brown to black hair over its…show more content… Niche:
C. Crocuta: Crocuta is one of the largest predators in Africa especially in areas where ungulates are common. They use almost every part of their prey except for horns and rumen. They also scavenge often which decreases the dead biomass in the ecosystem and keeps nitrogen and carbon flowing in the ecosystem.
H. Brunnea: H. Brunnea is an impartant eliminator in the remains of old carcasses in their environment. In doing so these hyenas reduce parasites and diseases. Brown Hyenas are host to many endo- and ectoparasites including fleas, tapeworms, nematodes, nymphs, mites, and flies.
H. Hyaena: Predominantly a scavenger the striped hyena generally has a diet that consists of carrion and human refuse. H. Hyaena scavenge medium sized prey such as but not limited to zebras, wildebeests, gazelles, and impalas. If food is scarce they are also known to eat bone off of carcasses. Supplementing their diet they also eat fruit, insects, and small rodents. Striped Hyenas play an important role by controlling populations and decreasing
