Hyaenidae

Also known as hyenas, hyaenas, hyaenid, hyaenids

thumb|Aardwolf, smallest member of the hyena family, skeleton (Museum of Osteology)

OverviewAI-generated

Hyaenidae is a family within the order Carnivora, class Mammalia, phylum Chordata, and kingdom Animalia. It belongs to the superfamily Herpestoidea and the infraorder Feliformia. The taxon was established about 26 million years ago. Its scientific name is Hyaenidae, and its common names include hyenas and hyenefamilien. The taxonomic type is Hyaena.

Members of this family are characterized by long snouts and long legs, resembling dogs, though they are closely related to the Viverridae. The family includes various species found in countries such as Tanzania, the United States, Pakistan, Israel, and India. Records of these animals are held by institutions including NHMUK, UCM, YPM, UCMP, and UMMP.

The group is distinct from the African wild dog. It is covered in the Wikipedia:Vital articles/Level/4 focus list and is referenced by 1,509 other encyclopedia articles. Descriptions of the taxon appear in sources such as the Pauly–Wissowa, the Bible Encyclopedia of Archimandrite Nicephorus, the Explanatory Dictionary of the Living Great Russian Language, and the Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary.

Synthesized by Vinony from 34 facts across 7 sources: Wikidata, GBIF, PubMed, Gbif Occ, Encyclopedia of Life, iDigBio, Vinony graph. Generated from structured data (not the Wikipedia text) and checked against those facts — may still contain errors.

Species

Hyaenidae

FAMILY

KingdomAnimalia
PhylumChordata
ClassMammalia
OrderCarnivora
FamilyHyaenidae

Observations recorded24,311

ハイエナ（英: Hyenas）は、食肉目ハイエナ科（Hyaenidae）に属する動物の総称である。長い鼻面と長い足を持ち、イヌに似た姿をしているが、ジャコウネコ科に近縁である。

via GBIF

Museum specimens

Specimen records: 40
With media: 8
Family: Hyaenidae
Collections: NHMUK, UCM, YPM, UCMP, UMMP, NRM
Recorded in: Tanzania, United States, Pakistan, Israel, India, South Africa, Tunisia, Morocco

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Research

259 papers

Ecological Specialization and Evolutionary Reticulation in Extant Hyaenidae.Molecular biology and evolution · 2021Westbury MV, Le Duc D, Duchêne DA et al.DOI: 10.1093/molbev/msab055
Chasmaporthetes lunensis (Hyaenidae, Carnivora) from the Early Pleistocene of Crimea.Doklady biological sciences : proceedings of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR, Biological sciences sections · 2022Lavrov AV, Hantemirov DR, Gimramov DO et al.DOI: 10.1134/S0012496622060096
Giant Hyena Pachycrocuta brevirostris (Hyaenidae, Carnivora) from the Lower Pleistocene of Taurida Cave, Crimea.Doklady biological sciences : proceedings of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR, Biological sciences sections · 2021Lavrov AV, Gimranov DO, Startsev DB et al.DOI: 10.1134/S0012496621010087
HELMINTH EGGS FROM PACHYCROCUTA BREVIROSTRIS (CARNIVORA, HYAENIDAE) COPROLITES FROM TAURIDA CAVE (EARLY PLEISTOCENE, CRIMEA).The Journal of parasitology · 2025Sivkova TN, Khantemirov DR, Gimranov DO et al.DOI: 10.1645/24-50
Sex Differences in Spotted Hyenas.ReviewCold Spring Harbor perspectives in biology · 2022McCormick SK, Holekamp KE, Smale L et al.DOI: 10.1101/cshperspect.a039180
Multiple cranial pathologies in spotted hyaenas, Crocuta crocuta.Zoology (Jena, Germany) · 2024Kargopoulos N, Rabe C, Gilissen E et al.DOI: 10.1016/j.zool.2024.126201
Capture of a Hyena-Specific Retroviral Envelope Gene with Placental Expression Associated in Evolution with the Unique Emergence among Carnivorans of Hemochorial Placentation in Hyaenidae.Journal of virology · 2019Funk M, Cornelis G, Vernochet C et al.DOI: 10.1128/JVI.01811-18
Molecular systematics of the Hyaenidae: relationships of a relictual lineage resolved by a molecular supermatrix.Molecular phylogenetics and evolution · 2006Koepfli KP, Jenks SM, Eizirik E et al.DOI: 10.1016/j.ympev.2005.10.017

via PubMed

Wikidata facts

Instance of: taxon
Parent taxon: Feliformia
Image: Crocuta-hejda.jpg

Show 12 more facts

taxon rank: family
Commons category: Hyaenidae
taxon name: Hyaenidae
Code of nomenclature: International Code of Zoological Nomenclature
Commons gallery: Hyaenidae
exact match: wordnet-rdf.princeton.edu/wn31/102120099-n
described by source: Encyclopædia Britannica 11th edition
start time: 26000000-0
on focus list of Wikimedia project: Wikipedia:Vital articles/Level/4
different from: African wild dog
taxon common name: hyenefamilien
taxonomic type: Hyaena

Sources (5)

via Wikidata · CC0

~31 min read

Encyclopedic overview

19 sections

Contents

Evolution
Origins
Rise and fall of the dog-like hyenas
Bone-crushing hyenas
Rise of modern hyenas
Genera of the Hyaenidae (extinct and recent)
Phylogeny
Characteristics
Build
Behavior
Relationships with humans
Folklore, mythology and literature
Attacks on humans
Hyenas as food and medicine
References
Citations
General and cited references
Further reading
External links

thumb|Aardwolf, smallest member of the hyena family, skeleton (Museum of Osteology)

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 smallest in the class Mammalia. Despite their low diversity, hyenas are unique and vital components of most African ecosystems.

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Hyaenidae” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.