Crocuta crocuta

The spotted hyena, also known as the laughing hyena, is a hyena species, currently classed as the sole extant member of the genus Crocuta, native to sub-Saharan Africa. It is listed as being of least concern by the IUCN due to its widespread range and large numbers estimated between 27,000 and 47,000 individuals. The species is, however, experiencing declines outside of protected areas due to habitat loss and poaching. Populations of Crocuta, usually considered a subspecies of Crocuta crocuta, known as cave hyenas, roamed across Eurasia for at least one million years until the end of the Late Pleistocene. The spotted hyena is the largest extant member of the Hyaenidae, and is further physically distinguished from other species by its vaguely bear-like build, rounded ears, less prominent mane, spotted pelt, more dual-purposed dentition, fewer nipples, and pseudo-penis. It is the only placental mammalian species where females have a pseudo-penis and lack an external vaginal opening.

Crocuta crocuta

Charles J. Sharp · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 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
CrocutaPBDB
Diet
carnivorePBDB, for Crocuta
Life habit
ground dwellingPBDB, for Hyaenidae
Motility
actively mobilePBDB, for Osteichthyes
Environment
terrestrialPBDB, for Eutheria

Time the record covers

At least 2.5 million years on record.

The record covers at least 2.58 Mya to 11.7 ka. No occurrence read is dated outside 7.246 Mya to 0 Mya.

Miocene — about 0 of 101 occurrencesMiocenePliocene — about 6 of 101 occurrencesPliocenePleistocene — about 91 of 101 occurrencesPleistoceneHolocene — about 3 of 101 occurrences7.5–7.2 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences7.2–7.0 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences7.0–6.7 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences6.7–6.5 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences6.5–6.2 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences6.2–5.9 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences5.9–5.7 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences5.7–5.4 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences5.4–5.2 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences5.2–4.9 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences4.9–4.6 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences4.6–4.4 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences4.4–4.1 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences4.1–3.9 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences3.9–3.6 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences3.6–3.4 Mya — about 0.7 occurrences3.4–3.1 Mya — about 0.8 occurrences3.1–2.8 Mya — about 0.8 occurrences2.8–2.6 Mya — about 0.8 occurrences2.6–2.3 Mya — about 5 occurrences2.3–2.1 Mya — about 5 occurrences2.1–1.8 Mya — about 5 occurrences1.8–1.5 Mya — about 6 occurrences1.5–1.3 Mya — about 6 occurrences1.3–1.0 Mya — about 6 occurrences1.0–775 ka Mya — about 6 occurrences775 ka–516 ka Mya — about 12 occurrences516 ka–258 ka Mya — about 12 occurrences258 ka–0 Mya — about 31 occurrences2.58 Mya11.7 ka7.7 Mya0 Mya

101 occurrences of Crocuta 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

101 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

14 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°ESwartkrans — 26.02°S, 27.72°ECromer Forest Bed — 52.46°N, 1.73°ECromer Forest Bed — 52.94°N, 1.25°EHumbu — 2.33°S, 35.97°ENachukui — 4.05°N, 35.73°ENachukui — 4.21°N, 35.78°EOlorgesailie — 1.57°S, 36.43°EGabal Silsila — 24.77°N, 32.95°EKapthurin — 0.50°N, 36.00°ESterkfontein — 26.02°S, 27.73°ENyabusosi — 1.00°N, 30.50°EKromdraai — 26.00°S, 27.75°EMakapansgat — 24.20°S, 28.95°E2 — 11.06°N, 42.28°ELatamne — 35.13°N, 36.75°E

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The named rock units Crocuta crocuta has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 67 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Crocuta crocuta and its relatives

Pleistocene

Where Crocuta crocuta and its relatives were recorded in the Pleistocene.

Found in the same rock

873 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 100 sites for Crocuta 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

75 references

Each of the 101 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. 63 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 crocuta

Credit
Charles J. Sharp
Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0
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

Smithsonian Open Access was not reached for this taxon, so this list is what the others held rather than everything there is.

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 itCrocuta through timeFormations of the PleistoceneThe world it lived on

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