Abstract
The distribution of the brown hyaena Parahyaena brunnea is limited to the drier parts of the savannas of southern Africa in Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Namibia, Botswana and South Africa. It was first recorded by A. Sparrmann in 1783 when it still ranged around Table Bay and Cape Town. However, it was described scientifically as Hyaena brunnea by C.P. Thunberg only in 1820 from a stuffed specimen, with its type locality given as the Cape of Good Hope of South Africa. Thunberg apparently never saw a live brown hyaena during his travels, which is not entirely surprising in view of this animal’s secretive and nocturnal nature. When it was first described, the brown hyaena was considered to be a true Hyaena, but on closer study enough differences were found for Q.B. Hendey to rename it Parahyaena brunnea in 1974. Moreover, if the brown hyaena were to be named Hyaena brunnea as it was in the past, this would contravene the International Rules on Zoological Nomenclature, because it would create a paraphyletic group among extant and/or fossil taxa. The scientific name Hyaena is based on the Middle English word hyena which is derived from the Old French word hyene. This in turn is a Latin derivation of the Greek word huaina which is the feminine form of hus, meaning pig. The name Parahyaena simply means ‘similar to Hyaena’.
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Bothma, J.d.P., Walker, C. (1999). The brown hyaena. In: Larger Carnivores of the African Savannas. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-03766-9_9
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