From its appearance, many would assume that the hyena is a relative of the coyote, the jackal, or even the domestic dog. After all, the hyena shares many similarities with these animals, as they are all four-legged carnivorous mammals with a tail, four legs, sharp teeth, and a snout with a wet nose.
It fits the image of the canine family. If asked, many people would likely list the hyena as a canine, not thinking twice about it.
Surprisingly, however, a hyena is not a canine at all.
What is a canine?
What defines a canine is being in the Canidae family, a family of digitigrade carnivorous mammals. Animals in the canine family, of course include dogs, but also wild animals such as wolves, coyotes, foxes, dingoes, and jackals.
There is a large diversity in how these animals appear, but there are a lot of similarities amongst them as well. They typically eat meat, have good endurance, and have sharp teeth suited for taking down prey. Canines also usually have a long tail, with a scent gland on it that they can use for purposes like marking territory.
The hyena is not in the Canidae family, and instead it is in the Hyaenidae family. This family consists of three different species of hyena, as well as aardwolves. Typical hyenas (the spotted hyena, the striped hyena, and the brown hyena) are large carnivorous mammals that hunt down as well as scavenge prey.
According to Orders and Families of Recent Mammals of the World, there is the Superfamily Canoidea which the Canidae family resides. This also includes animals such as the Ursidae family (bears) and the Mustelidae family (sables, fishers, ferrets, etc.)
Hyenas, however, are in a different Superfamily. They are in the Superfamily Feloidea, alongside Felidae (cats) and Viverridae (civets, binturongs, etc.) Counter to what many would assume, this means that hyenas are more closely related to cats than they are to dogs.
In fact, the hyena species are suspected to have branched off from the viverrids, making their similarities to canines coincidental. It seems to be a case of convergent evolution, as hyenas and canines happened to evolve in similar ways, which gave them similar features.
The spotted hyena is most likely the animal most people think of when they hear the word ‘hyena’, as they are, according to the Ngorongoro Hyena Project, one of the most common large carnivores in Africa. In animated films set in Africa, such as The Lion King, hyena characters are usually shown with characteristics of the spotted hyena (spots, a tan color coat, etc.).
One of the most commonly known facts about spotted hyenas is that they live in a matriarchal society. Unlike wolves or dogs, female hyenas are considered leaders in hyena society, whereas male hyenas are more commonly at the bottom of the pack. Female hyenas often fight for dominance, while with domestic dogs, this is more commonly seen with the males.
The other notable thing about hyena society is that the mother hyena has the burden of taking care of her pups, while still hunting and often participating in the leadership of her pack. With wolf societies, however, care of the young wolves is more spread around different pack members, and not solely delegated to the mother.
Both adult hyenas and adult canines are sexually dimorphic— which is to say, you can tell an adult female hyena from an adult male hyena from visual inspection. Generally speaking, with many species of domestic dogs, the males of the breed will be larger than the females. However, with hyenas, it is the opposite. Adult female hyenas are a bit larger than similarly aged male hyenas.
Many people know of hyenas as scavengers, but hyenas are also pack hunters. Spotted hyenas, in particular, are known for being especially clever and devious, sometimes outsmarting and taking down packs of lions when necessary. They are similar to wolves in the sense that they use cooperation and tactics in order to take down large prey effectively.
Additionally, both wolves and hyenas are territorial. Dominance is a large part of their society, with both hyenas and wolves learning about displays of dominance and submission early in their development. Canines and hyenas also communicate through vocalizations, with the wolf using howls and the spotted hyena using calls that sound like laughing to communicate with other hyenas.
Hyenas smell each other to get information from other hyenas, as canines do. If you have ever taken your dog on a play date, you have likely noticed your dog hesitantly sniffing another dog’s head or around the crotch area, in order to see how they want to approach the other dog. Hyenas also do this for the same reason, as the social hierarchy is important to them.
A hyena will use body language in order to communicate dominance or submission to another hyena. Notably, one way they will do so is by the positioning of their tail, just as a grey wolf does. Unlike dogs or wolves, however, they do not wag their tails.
They even use facial expressions to communicate, just as wolves and domestic dogs do. With domestic dogs, if they are very nervous or reactive, they may bare their teeth and flatten their ears to show their distress. Hyenas will do the same expression, before they promptly leave, which domestic dogs can do as well.
It’s quite interesting how similar canines and hyenas are. They are not evolved from the same animals, so it makes a person wonder why they have so many similarities in how they look and behave. However, they are different in a few ways as well, and once you learn about how unique hyenas are, it makes a bit more sense that they are not canines.