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 and evolution== 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.