Spotted+Hyena-+Extinct

Modern

=Extinct Ancestor of the Spotted Hyena= =Pachycrocuta (Giant Hyena)=


 * __General Information:__**
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 * __Scientific Classification:__**
 * **Kingdom** || Animalia ||
 * **Phylum** || Chordata ||
 * **Class** || Mammalia ||
 * **Order** || Carnivora ||
 * **Family** || Hyaenidae ||
 * **Genus** || Pachycrocuta ||
 * **Species** || Brevirostris ||

The //Pachycrocuta Brevirostris//, which can also be known as the ‘Giant Hyena’, was an extremely large version of the modern day Spotted Hyena, weighing in at up to 150kg andgrowing up to 1m at the shoulder. It lived in the late Pliocene- Pleistoceneera, which was approximately 3 million- 500 000 years ago. The diet of thePachycrocuta consisted of meat only, much similarly to the modern //Crocuta Crocuta//, and a large number ofadaptations of the Giant Hyena are similar to the modern day Spotted Hyena,while there are a few variations, which helped the animal become more suited tothe environment so many millennia ago than it would now. Fossils of the giant hyena have been found distributedacross many places in Eurasia and southern and eastern Africa. There have also been fossils buried in the walls of caves inthese areas, meaning that these acted as lairs for these ancient animals forthe many millennia they lived. During the beginning of this time, thetemperature on the Earth’s surface would have been a couple of degrees higherthan it is today. As more time passed, the temperature on the planet dropped,as the Earth entered the ice age, where almost 40% of the Earth’s surfacebecame covered in ice. The surface temperature dropped to below 0 degreescelcius, and this is a possible explanation as to why //Pachycrocuta Brevirostris// inhabited caves, to keep themselves from thecold climate.
 * __Habitat:__**
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__**Adaptation 1:**__ __**﻿**__ The Giant Hyena had a **large body and a heavy body mass,** and often could grow up to 3 times the size of a modern hyena,and weighed significantly more (20%). Due to the fact that they were scavengers, itwas important that they could not easily be picked off by other scavengers. Their heavy bodies and short legs prevented themfrom running long distances to chase their own prey. It’s stocky body, and short legs gave it a closeresemblance to the saber-toothed tiger, now also extinct, in that it was muchlarger and chunkier than its modern day replacement. It can be observed that the Giant Hyena was obviously more suited for strength and power, rather than agility and speed
 * __Adaptations:__**
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__**Adaptation 2:**__ __**﻿**__
 * Most of the food it obtained was through scavenging,** because it was deemed that the //Pachycrocuta Brevirostris// was physically disadvantaged if it had needed to obtain all its own from hunting itself. Its heavy body meant that it was not oftenbothered by other animals, because it often fed off the prey of other,presumably smaller, predators to obtain its food. The Giant Hyena stole fresh killed prey from others, and onlyoccasionally hunted for its own food, and was a small pack hunter of large animals, which mayhave been approximately the size of deer and perhaps even larger.

The //Pachycrocuta Brevirostris// had a set of **extremely stronglybuilt jaws,** which assited them in biting through bones and horns,even stronger than what the modern day spotted hyena is. Their jaws could exert a force of around 800kg persquare inch, and this made them extremely powerful and capable scavengers, because they were able to derive every single bit of nutrient fromwhat had been left over from the original predator itself.
 * __Adaptation 3:__**
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They had a **slower heart rate,slower metabolism,** due to the fact that the Pachycrocuta Brevirostrishad a larger body than the modern day hyena, this meant that it was ok for them to have a slower metabolism, since they didn’t move around as much to gain thefood they needed. These animals also had stronger hearts which were bigger insize to more blood around the entire body, but also taking up a longer space oftime to do this. Their endurance would also have been better andstronger because of their bigger hearts and slower metabolism, which wassuitable for the species, owing to the fact that they were primarily scavengers.
 * __Adaptation 4:__**
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Fossils of the Giant Hyenas prey have beendiscovered inside their dens, which have often been proven to be caves. This has shown that the ancestor of the SpottedHyena behaved in a way in which they **brought their prey back to their own territory before consuming it.** A main reason why this may have been so isbecause since the Giant Hyena had a bigger body, which led to slower movements,they may have wanted to prevent any other predators quicker than them to taketheir meal away before they have a chance to consume it properly.
 * __Adaptation 5:__**
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Larger predators, such as the saber- toothed tiger, were anextremely important part of the Giant Hyena’s method of getting food. Withoutthe tiger to first catch and kill the prey, the Pachycrocuta would never havebeen able to get any of the food it needs to stay alive. The decline in thenumber of Saber- Tooted Tigers after the Ice Age is believed to have been anextremely important aspect as to why the Giant Hyena died out, since they wereno longer available to attain food easily, based on scavenging off otherpredators’ kills. BBC - Earth News - Prehistoric giant hyena's bone-cracking habit. (n.d.). //BBC News - Home//. Retrieved June 25, 2011, from []
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 * __Bibliography:__**
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CARNIVORA - Short-Faced Hyena - Pachycrocuta brevirostus. (n.d.). //CARNIVORA - Home//. Retrieved June 25, 2011, from []

Miocene, t. e., & problems., h. a. (n.d.). The Hyena Pages -- Hyena Evolution. //WeareSites -- Home page//. Retrieved June 27, 2011, from []

Strauss, � (n.d.). Giant Hyena - Characteristics, Behavior and Habitat of the Giant Hyena, Pachycrocuta. //Dinosaurs - Types, Behavior and Evolution of Dinosaurs//. Retrieved June 25, 2011, from []


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