Crocuta

Crocuta is a genus of hyena containing the largest extant member of the family, the spotted hyena (Crocuta crocuta). Several fossil species are also known, with the Pleistocene Eurasian cave hyenas either being regarded as distinct species or subspecies of the spotted hyena.

Taxonomy

It is still unclear whether the genus evolved in Africa or Asia, although the oldest known fossils are from Africa and dated to about 3.8 mya.<ref name=":0">Template:Cite journal</ref> The earliest remains from Asia currently attributed to the genus is Crocuta honanensis from the Early Pleistocene of China dating to around 2.5-2.2 million years ago, but its relationship to the living spotted hyena is ambiguous. Crocuta first appears in Europe around 800,000 years ago at the beginning of the Middle Pleistocene, replacing the giant hyena Pachycrocuta.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>

The Eurasian "cave hyenas" (Crocuta spelaea, Crocuta ultima and others) have either been considered subspecies of the living spotted hyena,<ref name=":0" /> or as distinct species.<ref name=":1">Template:Cite journal</ref> Genetic analysis of cave hyenas have found them to be strongly genetically divergent from living African spotted hyenas, albeit with some evidence of limited interbreeding between the two populations.<ref name="HyenaPalaeogenomes">Template:Cite journal</ref>

Two extinct species are known to have coexisted with each other in eastern Africa during the Pliocene; Crocuta eturono and Crocuta dietrichi, each one probably occupying a different niche in regards to their preference for scavenging or hunting.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> In Ahl al Oughlam, a Pliocene site in Morocco, lived the species Crocuta dbaa.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> In China there was a Pliocene species, Crocuta honanensis,<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> The holotype of Crocuta sivalensis from the Indian subcontinent has been determined to be a specimen of Pliocrocuta and unrelated to Crocuta proper.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>