What family are hyenas part of?

Question

I've always found hyenas strange, but I have no idea which family of mammles they are from. Any ideas?

Answer 1

ORDER: Carnivora
FAMILY: Hyaenidae
GENUS: Crocuta
SPECIES: crocuta

Here is an excerpt from a March 2006 paper in Journal of Molecular Phylogeny and Evolution. The authors used hyena and other animal DNA sequences to construct a "family tree":

"The four extant species of hyenas (Hyaenidae; Carnivora) form a morphologically and ecologically heterogeneous group of feliform carnivorans that are remnants of a formerly diverse group of mammalian predators. They include the aardwolf (Proteles cristatus), a termite-feeding specialist, and three species with a craniodental morphology adapted to cracking the bones of prey and/or carcasses, the spotted hyena (Crocuta crocuta), brown hyena (Parahyaena brunnea), and striped hyena (Hyaena hyaena)."..."Divergence time estimates based on a Bayesian relaxed molecular clock indicates that hyaenids diverged from their feliform sister group 29.2 MYA, in the Middle Oligocene. Molecular clock estimates also suggest that the origin of the aardwolf is much more recent (10.6 MYA) than that implied by a cladistic analysis of morphology ( approximately 20 MYA) and suggests that the aardwolf is possibly derived from a bone and meat eating lineage of hyaenids that were present in the Late Miocene."

Answer 2

Hyena
Crocuta
Hyaena
Parahyaena
Proteles Hyenas (or Hy殡s) are moderately large terrestrial carnivores native to Africa and Asia, and members of the family Hyaenidae. Although hyenas look rather like large dogs, they make up a separate biological family which is most closely related to Herpestidae (the family of mongooses and meerkats).
In ancient times, large hyenas ranged over much of Europe and Asia, but they are much reduced in range and diversity today. Only four species survive: the Spotted, Brown, and Striped Hyenas (which together make up the subfamily Hyaeninae), and the Aardwolf, which is the only member of the subfamily Protelinae.

Despite what is usually said, only some species belonging to this family are scavengers: while the brown and the striped hyena derive most of their diets from scavenging, the spotted hyena is a real predator. The aardwolf usually eat insects.

Classification
Family Hyaenidae
Subfamily Hyaeninae
Spotted Hyena Crocuta crocuta
Brown Hyena Parahyaena brunnea (formerly Hyaena brunnea)
Striped Hyena Hyaena hyaena
Subfamily Protelinae
Aardwolf Proteles cristatus

Answer 3

Hyenas are members of the family hyaenidae, the order carnivora. They are rather doglike in appearance, but are actually more closely related to cats and viverridae (civets, mongooses, genets) than they are to dogs. They share many things in common with the civet family, to which they share the closest relation.

There are four hyena species in three genera:
# Kingdom: Animalia
# Phylum: Chordata
# Class: Mammalia
# Order: Carnivora
# Superfamily: Feliodea/Aeluroidea
* Family: Hyaenidae
o Subfamily: Hyaeninae �(Striped, Brown, and Spotted Hyenas)
o Subfamily: Protelinae (Aardwolf)

Answer 4

Hyenas (or Hyænas) are moderately large terrestrial carnivores native to Africa and the Indian Subcontinent. They are members of the family Hyaenidae.

Answer 5

Order Carnivora (carnivores)
Family Hyaenidae (aardwolf and hyenas)
Subfamily Hyaeninae (hyenas)
Genus Crocuta (spotted hyena)
Species Crocuta crocuta (spotted hyena)
Genus Hyaena (striped hyena)
Species Hyaena hyaena (striped hyena)
Genus Parahyaena (brown hyena)
Species Parahyaena brunnea (brown hyena)
Subfamily Protelinae (aardwolf)
Genus Proteles (aardwolf)
Species Proteles cristatus (aardwolf)

Answer 6

Actually Hyenas are more closely related to cats than dog, genetic wise.

Answer 7

"Although hyenas look like rather large wild dogs, they make up a separate biological family which is most closely related to Herpestidae (the family of mongooses and meerkats)."

Answer 8

Dogs

Answer 9

most people beleive that the hyena is a memeber of the dog family, but they are actually closer to cats.

Answer 10

They are members of the family Hyaenidae, the Mongoose or Meerkat family.