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Submitted by kathycf on Sun, 2018-09-23 22:09

Feliformia-

Quote:
... is one of two suborders within the order Carnivora and consists of the "cat-like" carnivores, such as the felids (true cats), hyenas, mongooses, civets, and related taxa.

I watched a program about a month or so ago about hyenas and thought they were interesting and qualified (at least to me) as a fun fact sort of thing. I had always thought Hyenas were related to the wolf/fox/dog families because to me they look kind of doggy-ish, but nope. Spotted Hyenas in particular are somewhat unique as they are primarily hunters, NOT scavengers as many folks seem to think.

Quote:
Spotted hyena

The spotted hyena or laughing hyena (Crocuta crocuta) are native to Africa and are best known for a chirping, birdlike bark that resembles the sound of hysterical human laughter. Though often labeled incorrectly as a scavenger, the spotted hyena is actually a powerful hunter, the majority of its nourishment being derived from live prey. Spotted hyenas are the most common predator in sub-Saharan Africa, living in savanna, dry woodland, and desert habitats. Spotted hyenas are successful pack hunters of small to large sized ungulates.

(Crocuta crocuta strikes me as something to put on a salad, like a crouton. I know, I'm a weirdo).

Anyway, the female spotted hyenas are larger and dominant over the males. Additionally, there are very minor differences in the appearance between the sexes so a person would have to get uh, very personal to tell the difference. I don't think the lady hyenas would be too pleased about that and their big ass powerful jaws would do a ton of damage to the looky-loo who dared peek at them.

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