hyena
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Eavesdropping lions zero-in on African wild dog calls
Posted by Brian Switek on May 5, 2010 African wild dogs (Lycaon pictus), photographed at the Bronx Zoo. African wild dogs (Lycaon pictus) don’t have it easy. Their taste for large mammalian prey puts them in competition with lions and spotted hyenas for both prey and living space, meaning that wild dogs regularly have their kills stolen or are even killed by other…
The horse-hunting hyenas of Srbsko Chlum-Komin Cave
Posted by Brian Switek on May 3, 2010 Breaking down a hyena kill. Given competition with other carnivores, prehistoric hyenas (like their living counterparts) would probably have disarticulated and transported parts of horses they killed. From Diedrich 2010. In Hollywood films, there is nothing like an assemblage of bones strewn about a cave floor to testify to the power and voraciousness of a…
Fossil dog may be ancestor of Africa’s “painted” canids
Posted by Brian Switek on April 12, 2010 An African wild dog (Lycaon pictus, left) compared to a spotted hyena (Crocuta crocuta, right). Both photographed at the Bronx Zoo. It never fails. Whenever I visit a zoo’s African wild dog exhibit someone inevitably asks “Are those hyenas?”, and when I visit spotted hyena enclosures I often hear the question “Are those dogs?” These…
Photo of the Day #893: Spotted hyena
Posted by Brian Switek on March 30, 2010 A spotted hyena (Crocuta crocuta), photographed at the Bronx Zoo.
A hyena’s LOL contains important information about itself
Posted by Brian Switek on March 30, 2010 Spotted hyenas giggling over an antelope spine. Courtesy BMC Ecology. For spotted hyenas, a laugh can speak volumes about an individual. Despite being portrayed as stupid scavengers who rely on the leftovers of lion prides, hyenas are highly intelligent and social predators. They communicate with each other through an array of whoops, yowls, grunts, screams,…