Hello ladies and gents this is the Viking telling you that today we are talking about
AMAZING FACTS ABOUT HYENA
Hyena are one of the most misunderstood and under-appreciated species in the animal kingdom. Read 10 amazing facts about spotted hyena from our in-house expert, a.k.a “hyena man”, Axel Hunnicutt. Axel is currently leading the Mun-Ya-Wana Spotted Hyena Project in South Africa, is a member of the IUCN Hyaena Specialist Group, and is working towards his PhD on the spotted hyena and its regional decline in KwaZulu-Natal South Africa.
1. They are adept hunters
One of the longest standing false accusations against the spotted hyena is that they are purely scavengers. Particularly that they steal most of their food from lions. In fact studies have shown that hyenas kill 66-90% of what they eat and when it comes to the actual hunt they are extremely versatile and successful hunters. As cursorial hunters, hyenas run down their prey to exhaustion, cruising at speeds of 37 mph (60 kph) for several miles. Spotted hyenas can bring down prey many times their size, for an animal the size of a large dog, they have been recorded to kill cape buffalo and giraffes.
As for the lions who are the supposed providers for the inept hyena, in multiple studies it has been shown the lions are more likely to scavenge from hyena kills, owing to the hyena's higher success rate.
2. They are great mothers
When thinking of nature’s great mothers, a gorilla nestling her young baby in her arms or a cat nursing her kittens may come to mind; usually not a spotted hyena. However hyenas surprisingly are one of the best mothers in the animal kingdom, investing more energy per cub than any other terrestrial carnivore. Hyenas give birth to 1 to 3 tiny jet black cubs (some call them pups, but early naturalists thought they resembled bear cubs). Hyena cubs are “precocial”, meaning they are born in a more advanced stage of development with their eyes open, teeth intact, and muscles ready to go, unlike many of the cat species where cubs are born largely blind and helpless for several weeks.
Spotted hyena mothers produce extremely fat and protein-rich milk (richer than any other terrestrial carnivore) and they produce a lot of it for a long period. Hyena cubs are completely dependent on milk for the first six months of their lives and will continue to nurse for up to another year. All of that is a lot of stress on a single mother as hyenas do not cross-suckle, even between closely related females.
Often cast as being foolish and dull, perhaps due to the misunderstanding of their laugh or giggle vocalization, spotted hyenas show shocking signs of intelligence that rivals most wild animals in Africa. In fact hyena intelligence is thought to mimic the evolution of our own intelligence, with success through complex social behaviors driving brain evolution. In experiments spotted hyenas out performed even chimpanzees when it came to collective or group problem solving; showing that in some ways hyena intelligence may even exceed some of the great apes in certain aspects. Anyone who has spent any time with spotted hyenas in the wild can attest to their curious and inquisitive behavior; certainly anyone who’s had their car or house broken into by one. I’ve even observed rudimentary tool-use by hyena to achieve goals such as escaping from cage traps.
4. They can count
Studies have shown that spotted hyenas can determine the number of other hyenas in a rival clan and decide their best course of action. Similarly, males looking to join a new clan will always join the clan with the least number of other males after doing a quick census. It may not be calculus, but spotted hyenas are able to count.
5. The females have complicated and unusual genitals
Arguably the worst false accusation against hyenas is that they are hermaphrodites. This is completely false, but there's a very good reason why it was thought to be true. Female spotted hyenas do in fact have a pseudopenis and a pseduoscotum, both of which are convincingly similar to male anatomy. The pseudopenis is actually her clitoris, which has evolved to mimic the male’s anatomy with the entire urogential track running through it. Females urinate, have sex, and give birth through this structure. The reason for this male mimicry is not completely understood, but likely has its evolutionary history rooted in the benefits of looking like and even being confused as a male. One idea is that during the course of hyena evolution, males were far more aggressive, so much so that females who started to mimic them in appearance, size, and even genital anatomy were more successful at passing on their genes
And as always have a chilled day from the Viking
Comments
Post a Comment