Hyaenidae

Spotted Hyena

Spotted hyena's are the largest of four species of hyena's.

Brown Hyena

Brown hyenas can be recognized by there shaggy coat. Brown hyenas are also scavengers and they will travel long distances of up to 35 km a night in search of food.

Striped hyenas

Striped hyenas are very powerful animals. The stripes on there sides help them camouflage from prey so they can sneak up on them.

AardwolfAardwolves are basically like striped hyenas except they are skinnier and more agile.

Food Web

Hyenas are tertiaryconsumers!

Where do they live?The majority of hyenas live in the desert and grasslands. Many of them live in Northern Africa in the Sahara desert. The striped hyenas and aardwolves live in Southern Africa. The spotted hyenas are in the Sahara desert and also spread into the middle-east. Brown hyenas live in Western Africa and in middle-east as well.

CompetitionHyenas compete with lions for resources such as food. Many people think that lions would dominate hyenas because of there size and immense strength, but in Africa there are approximately 3x more hyenas than lions which benefits hyenas in a big way!

There are four species of hyenas. There are the spotted hyenas which are the largest populated of the four, there are also brown hyenas, striped hyenas, and aardwolf. Like I wrote before, the majority of the hyenas live in Africa.

Biodiversity

AdaptationsAlthough there are different species of hyenas, they all have the same basic adaptations. They are all extremely strong and fast. Older species of hyenas were smaller and more vulnerable. They now have adaptations to protect themselves from other animals. One of the biggest adaptations is the tongues of the hyenas. They are very long which helps them lick tree bark and eat insects from the trees. Another adaptation is that they have learned to laugh when they are in trouble which is a call to other hyenas to come to assist the troubled hyena. The aardwolf is the only hyena that has a different adaptation. Because of it's small size it can escape from predators.

Evolution of Hyena

Their are many extinct animals from the same subfamily hyaeninae such as palinhyaena, and ikelohyaena. These extinct ancestors were smaller than hyenas today. Their was one ancestor that came directly from the family hyaenidae and that is the tongxinictis. These animals were in fact bigger than hyenas today. The picture in the background us a picture of the animal.

Sources• http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/99/2667_Spotted_Hyena_Cubs.JPG• http://norfolkbirding.com/Spotted-Hyena-QE-park.jpg• http://www.jacarandafm.com/media/uploads/2013/09/26/234_1Brown_Hyena.jpg• http://www.arkive.org/brown-hyaena/hyaena-brunnea/image-G30201.html• http://creepyanimals.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/striped-hyena.jpg• http://www.thejunglestore.com/site/images/aardwolf.jpg• http://analee118.weebly.com/uploads/1/7/4/8/17481489/6718750_orig.png• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Striped_hyena#Range_and_population• http://techhouse.brown.edu/~dmorris/africa/3207_amboseli_hyena_notes.jpg• https://sites.google.com/site/kevtomdesert/animals/spotted-hyena• http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3516/4046054583_29b53d8c9d_o.jpg• http://education.nationalgeographic.com/education/media/lions-vs-hyenas-competing-interests/?ar_a=1• http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/48/Hyaenidae.jpg/220px-Hyaenidae.jpg• http://t.answers.com/answers/#!/entry/what-adaptations-does-a-hyena-have,4fe6e6b74b672622b853413c/2• http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2532/4278989018_7e16d9d379_o.jpg• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyena#Genera_of_the_Hyaenidae_.28extinct_and_recent.29• http://img.webme.com/pic/s/stafai/ictitherium.jpg