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.

Crocuta

HaJo S · CC BY 2.0 · via Wikipedia/Commons. May be a photograph of a specimen, or an artist’s reconstruction — an interpretation of a skeleton, since colour and soft tissue are almost never preserved.

On record

Recorded, not inferred
Also called
spotted hyaenaPBDB
Sits inside
HyaenidaePBDB
Diet
carnivorePBDB
Life habit
ground dwellingPBDB, for Hyaenidae
Motility
actively mobilePBDB, for Osteichthyes
Environment
terrestrialPBDB, for Eutheria

Time the record covers

At least 11 million years on record.

The record covers at least 11.63 Mya to 11.7 ka. No occurrence read is dated outside 15.98 Mya to 0 Mya.

Miocene — about 8 of 163 occurrencesMiocenePliocene — about 24 of 163 occurrencesPliocenePleistocene — about 128 of 163 occurrencesPleistocene16–16 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences16–15 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences15–15 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences15–14 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences14–14 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences14–13 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences13–13 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences13–12 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences12–12 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences12–11 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences11–10 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences10–9.9 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences9.9–9.3 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences9.3–8.8 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences8.8–8.2 Mya — about 0.6 occurrences8.2–7.7 Mya — about 0.6 occurrences7.7–7.1 Mya — about 0.7 occurrences7.1–6.6 Mya — about 1.0 occurrences6.6–6.0 Mya — about 1.0 occurrences6.0–5.5 Mya — about 1.0 occurrences5.5–4.9 Mya — about 2 occurrences4.9–4.4 Mya — about 2 occurrences4.4–3.8 Mya — about 2 occurrences3.8–3.3 Mya — about 6 occurrences3.3–2.7 Mya — about 10 occurrences2.7–2.2 Mya — about 17 occurrences2.2–1.6 Mya — about 21 occurrences1.6–1.1 Mya — about 18 occurrences1.1–549 ka Mya — about 24 occurrences549 ka–0 Mya — about 54 occurrences11.63 Mya11.7 ka16.5 Mya0 Mya

163 occurrences of Crocuta on record, most of them in the Pleistocene. The Paleobiology Database records this as a living group. Bar height is expected occurrences, not a count: each fossil is spread across the span it is dated to, so a tall narrow bar means tight dating and a low wide one means loose.

When

163 occurrences

These are dates about fossils, not the animal: the record can only begin after it arose and end before it died out, so either end may reach further. Shares are expected occurrences: a fossil dated to a span is counted partly in each period it straddles. More on what this infers.

Found in

28 formations

Koobi Fora — 4.07°N, 36.37°EKoobi Fora — 4.24°N, 36.26°EKoobi Fora — 3.90°N, 36.24°EKoobi Fora — 3.87°N, 36.37°EKoobi Fora — 4.28°N, 36.24°EKoobi Fora — 4.27°N, 36.29°EKoobi Fora — 3.94°N, 36.25°EKoobi Fora — 4.15°N, 36.40°EVogel River Series — 3.22°S, 35.21°EVogel River Series — 3.01°S, 35.20°EVogel River Series — 3.26°S, 35.20°ENachukui — 3.87°N, 35.70°ENachukui — 4.05°N, 35.73°ENachukui — 4.21°N, 35.78°EOlduvai — 2.98°S, 35.37°EOlduvai — 2.99°S, 35.34°ESwartkrans — 26.02°S, 27.72°ECromer Forest Bed — 52.46°N, 1.73°ECromer Forest Bed — 52.94°N, 1.25°ENagri — 32.77°N, 72.50°EDhok Pathan — 33.63°N, 72.52°EHadar — 11.14°N, 40.58°EHumbu — 2.33°S, 35.97°ESterkfontein — 26.02°S, 27.73°EOlorgesailie — 1.57°S, 36.43°EBabladanga — 23.50°N, 87.00°EChinji — 32.68°N, 72.37°EGabal Silsila — 24.77°N, 32.95°EWehaietu — 10.90°N, 40.48°EChemeron — 0.67°N, 35.83°EKapthurin — 0.50°N, 36.00°ELukeino — 0.50°N, 35.67°ENyabusosi — 1.00°N, 30.50°EKromdraai — 26.00°S, 27.75°EMakapansgat — 24.20°S, 28.95°E2 — 11.06°N, 42.28°EC1/LR — 33.58°N, 7.65°W

Loading coastlines…

The named rock units Crocuta has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 4 further formations hold fewer occurrences each and are not listed. 94 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Crocuta and its relatives

Pleistocene

Where Crocuta and its relatives were recorded in the Pleistocene.

Found in the same rock

1,400 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 154 sites for Crocuta, and this reads all of them. The number is how many of those sites it was catalogued from too. The 24 sharing the most are listed.

This is not a list of everything alive at the time. It is only what has come out of the same ground as this animal and been written down.

Entered from

110 references

Each of the 163 occurrences read was entered from one of these publications, ordered by how many each accounts for. This is not a search for papers mentioning the name. 98 further references are not listed. Entries link to doi.org where the Paleobiology Database holds an identifier, and to its own record where it does not. Relayed as the Paleobiology Database holds them, not checked against what they resolve to.

Media and terms

Media content3

Picture of Crocuta

Credit
HaJo S
Licence
CC BY 2.0
Commercial use
the licence allows it

CT scan

Licence
In Copyright
Commercial use
cannot be read from the licence given — check the record
Specimen
Crocuta crocuta · ummz:mammals:163808

3D model

Source
Sketchfab
Licence
CC Attribution
Commercial use
cannot be read from the licence given — check the record

The description on this site

Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0

This is what the site found, which is not the same as what exists.

Keep going

What may have been alongside itHyaenidae through timeFormations of the PleistoceneThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. (Erxleben 1777)