Hyena-Vivian+Lin

Extinct Future

=The Spotted Hyena= =** Vivian Lin Year 10﻿ **=

__**General Information-**__ __**﻿**__ __**Scientific Classification:**__
 * **Kingdom** || Animalia ||
 * **Phylum** || Chordata ||
 * **Class** || Mammalia ||
 * **Order** || Carnivora ||
 * **Family** || Hyaenidae ||
 * **Genus** || Crocuta ||
 * **Species** || Crocuta ||

The Spotted Hyena, who is more commonly known to as thelaughing hyena because of its call which resembles a human laugh, is the largestof the hyena species, as well as the most aggressive. The scientificclassification of the genus species of the spotted hyena, //Crocuta crocuta//, comes from the Latin //crocus//, meaning the color ‘saffron’, and //utus,// derived from the meaning of ‘provided with’. These hyenas aretypically characterized by their canine-like appearance, although this is acommon misconception, as they are more closely related to large felines such aslions or leopards. This page will outline their habitat and explain specificadaptations of the modern hyena and how this affects them in the ecosystem theylive in.

Spotted hyenas can only be foundin Africa, with highly concentrated numbers in and around South Africa and insome areas of central Africa, as can be seen in Diagram 2: Distribution map of Spotted Hyenas in Central and South Africa.
 * Habitat: **



Hyenas typically live in social groups called clans, which generally consist of around 70 hyenas, and are dominated by females. The lowest ranking female hyena would be seen as more important, and have a higher priority over food and livingspace over even the highest ranking male in the clan. A hyena’s habitat isfrequently savannahs, woodlands, grasslands, semi- deserts, forest edges andmountains up to 4000m in altitude. //Crocutacrocuta// are extremely abundant in locations where large carnivores such aszebra or antelope are found in masses. Any place which has adequate resourcesof animals will typically be a suitable habitat for the spotted hyena.

__** Adaptations ** - __ __** Structural Adaptation 1: **__ Spotted hyenas have developed a **strong set of jaws and a powerful digestion system** to aid them in being able to absorb a high amount of nutrients from the food that they eat. These features of the hyena give them the ability to consume and digest almost the entire animal completely, from flesh and hide to hooves and bones. The hyena’s strong jaws, which show a strong resemblence to the jaws of a killer whale, allow them to crush through bones at an extremely strong pressure, which is what gives them an advantage when scavenging through leftovers. In this way, they can also eat and derive nutrients from what is inside the bone marrow of the animal. Hyenas commonly feed on species of antelope, such as the kudu; wildebeest, and giraffe, and plains zebra are oftenavoided. The optimum weight for the prey of the spotted hyena is 56-182kg,although most commonly, around 100kg. // Crocuta crocuta // are often portrayed as being nasty,weak scavengers, like in the Disney movie “Lion King”, but they are actuallypowerful hunters, and 90% of their total food intake comes from live prey.Apart from the majority of nourishment they receive from hunting animals downthemselves, they also gain a portion of what they need to eat from theleftovers of a lion or other big cat. Due to their powerful digestive system, partsof the animal which are normally extremely difficult to digest are easilyaccessible to the hyena, because even fragments of bone, horns and hooves canbe completely digested with 24 hours of consumption.

__** Structural Adaptation 2: **__**﻿**

To assist them in claiming and protecting their territory from other animals, spotted hyenas have two **anal scent glands** (Diagram 2), which they use to leave traces of their scent on grass stalks around a specific geographical location. These two structures, which are located just inside the anal opening and into the rectum, secrete a thick sticky paste, which characterizes an extremely strong odor, hence warning intruders and trespassers to stay away from their territory, and alerting them that the location has already been claimed and taken. After leaving the paste in a place, the hyena will also scratch around with its paws, leaving a further layer of odor from its interdigital glands.

The process of using this bodily paste is to serve a few main purposes. These constitute of occasions such as when the animal is walking alone, when lions are present, or when they are around a kill. The most common place for clans of hyenas to perform this procedure is at and near territory boundaries, and often near cubs and dens. The paste which is ejected from the anal glands is effective in preventing other predators around in the same area from reaching and stealing their food or prey, such as lions or other hyenas.

__** Behavioral Adaptation 1: ****﻿**__ In having developed a **distinct** **call and sophisticated vocalization behavior,** hyenas are able to communicate in thorough detail to others of their clan regarding issues such as the situation they are in, or warnings others should be aware of. Their callsare an effective method of communication as the vocalization is representative ofstatus within a clan, and is also part of what identifies them as individuals. Hyenas’calls are also a way of showing off to each other, and studies have shown thatmale hyenas tend to vocalize more than females of similar social status,although higher ranking females have louder and longer calls.

High pitched‘laughs’ are most commonly symbolic of fear or submission, while loud growlsand whimpering sounds are used when the animal is under attack. The hyenas’ setof calls consists of one which resembles a “whoop” sound, and is a sound whichcan be carried over 5km away from the source. Laughs which sound like gigglesor grunts are signs of excitement, while yells are used when hyenas competeover a carcass, although they have the undesired side effect of attracting theattention of nearby lions or other Spotted Hyenas.

__** Behavioral Adaptation 2: ****﻿**__ The Spotted Hyena has an extremely **complex and varied set of body postures and body language** to aid them in their communication of information to their own kind as well as others. This body language also helps humans understand their emotions and can help us try to understand their highly developed patterns of behavior. Many emotions are conveyed through body language, in particular, as a way to transfer thoughts and feelings from one animal toanother. Under neutral circumstances, the hyenas tail hangs down, and it curls under orcarries forward depending on the situation that the hyena is in, whether it is when an attack is near, or during an attack. When hyenas feel fear, they tend to fold their ears back, bare their teeth, and flatten their mane. In the scenario that the hyena is under attack, or under threat from another animal,they will lower their hindquarters, in preparation to either run from or pounce on the enemy. Before and during an assertive attack, hyenas will mostly holdtheir head high, with ears cocked, mouth closed, mane erect, and hold theirhindquarters high.

__** Physiological Adaptation 1: **__ From the process of evolution over the past centuries, spotted hyenas have evolved to contain a **high level of androgens in thefemale hyena.** This has happened because it has helped the animal adapt to their environment in that they depend on having strong muscles and large muscle mass, as well as having requirements to increase in size, in order to assist them for hunting as well as defense purposes. Due to the fact that hyena cubs are born with concentrated numbers of androgens in their bodies, as well as readily developed teeth and open eyes, baby hyenas fight for survival themoment they are born. From a litter of two female cubs, they will fight until the weaker is killed, and the victor assumes a rank directly beneath hermother.

This physiological adaptation has also resulted in a condition known as **sexual dimorphism** in the Spotted Hyena,when the external genitalia of the female hyena closely resemble those of amale. This condition constitutes of the female possessing an elongated clitoris, which is capable of a voluntary erection; and this makes the process of conception extremely difficult for both. Due this reason, it was often wrongly conceived in the past that there were only male hyenas, when people first started studying hyenas. Through more modern discoveries, biologists have found out that distinguishing between male and female hyenas can be done through identifying calls and distinctions in body size, as well as other behavioral and structural characteristics.

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