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The spotted hyaena

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Book cover Larger Carnivores of the African Savannas

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Abstract

To many people the whooping call of the spotted hyaena is as much a symbol of the African night as the haunting call of the fish eagle symbolises the day. Yet, this most abundant large carnivore of the African savannas is often maligned and persecuted because of human prejudices based on ignorance. When the spotted hyaena was originally described scientifically, the error made with the identification of the African wild dog was reversed. Whereas the wild dog was originally described as a form of hyaena, the spotted hyaena was first characterised as a new species of dog, Canis crocuta, from a specimen collected in Senegambia by J.C.P. Erxleben in 1777. It was, however, recognised as a form of hyaena when it was renamed Crocuta crocuta by Kaup in 1828. The name Crocuta itself was not originally used as the generic name for a hyaena, because it was first used by Meigen in 1800 for an insect. This use of Crocuta for an insect classification was suppressed in 1962 in favour of the spotted hyaena in accordance with the International Rules on Zoological Nomenclature.

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  1. Centre for Wildlife Management, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa

    J. du P. Bothma

  2. Lapalala Wilderness, Vaalwater, South Africa

    Clive Walker

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  1. J. du P. Bothma
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© 1999 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Bothma, J.d.P., Walker, C. (1999). The spotted hyaena. In: Larger Carnivores of the African Savannas. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-03766-9_7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-03766-9_7

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