Hyenas are misunderstood? I’ll be waiting for the HLM movement to get underway
Misunderstood in the way that they have been portrayed in media, specifically the most well known species.
Spotted Hyenas, the ones that most know — the hyenas from the lion king and such — are known to most as scavengers and cowardly things that are just a nuisance.
Truth though is that Spotted Hyenas hunt 80-95% of their own prey and Lions actually are known to scavenge off of them more than the other way around.
They're incredibly smart animals that have shown the ability to work together to reach an end goal, and are incredibly family orientated. Hyena clans are matriarchal in nature, to the point that even the smallest of female cubs are higher ranking than the highest ranking males. Female Spotted Hyenas are also larger, and said to produce more testosterone than the males, and have some of the weirdest, and in my opinion coolest, anatomical setup when it comes to their genitals. They have a pseudo-penis, and pseudo-scrotum. There is no outer entrance to the vagina. Only way to get there is through the pseudo-penis, which is actually just an enlarged clitoris that looks and acts like a penis. But that also means that birthing has to happen through there as well. 😬
Also, the laughing sound that Spotted Hyenas make is actually a sound of anxiety and stress, and will mostly be heard when there is a threat or around food. Example: https://www.*******.com/watch?v=FQaSRKP8Dho
Besides Spotted Hyenas, there are actually three other Hyena species that we actually don't know as much about:
- Brown Hyena
- Striped Hyena
- Aardwolf
Brown and Striped Hyenas are more on the scavenging end than Spotteds.
Aardwolves are actually insectivores and their main food is Termites.
From the Hyena wiki page for visual reference:
