Abstract
The striped hyaena Hyaena hyaena is the second largest of the living hyaenas in the world. The male is larger than the female. An adult striped hyaena weighs from 25 to 55 kg, those in Africa being smaller than the striped hyaenas in Eurasia. It is the only living hyaena to retain the generic name Hyaena,and this name has an interesting origin. It is based on the Middle English word hyena which is Old French and derived from the word hyene,which in turn is a Latin derivation of the Greek word huaina,which is the feminine form of hus,meaning pig. Like the spotted hyaena, the striped hyaena was originally thought to be a dog when it was first described as Canis hyaena by C. Linnaeus in 1758 from a specimen originally thought to have been collected in India, but later attributed to the Benna Mountains in Iran. The generic name Hyaena was first used by M J. Brisson in 1762. However, the credit for this classification has since been given to Brünnich, who is now recognised as the originator of the name. The striped hyaena was renamed Hyaena striata by E.A.W. von Zimmerman in 1777. It has now been given the name Hyaena hyaena in accordance with the International Rules on Zoological Nomenclature.
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Bothma, J.d.P., Walker, C. (1999). The striped hyaena. In: Larger Carnivores of the African Savannas. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-03766-9_8
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