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The aardwolf (Proteles cristatus [3]) is an insectivorous hyaenid species, native to East and Southern Africa.Its name means "earth-wolf" in Afrikaans and Dutch. [4] [5] It is also called the maanhaar-jackal [6] [7] (Afrikaans for "mane-jackal"), termite-eating hyena [8] and civet hyena, based on its habit of secreting substances from its anal gland, a characteristic shared with the African civet.
Chasmaporthetes was one of the so-called "dog-like" hyenas (of which the aardwolf is the only survivor), a hyaenid group which, in contrast to the now more common "bone-crushing" hyenas, evolved into slender-limbed, cursorial hunters like modern canids. [4]
Hyenas are known to have preyed on humans in prehistory: human hair has been found in fossilized hyena dung dating back 195,000 to 257,000 years. [68] Some paleontologists believe that competition and predation by cave hyenas ( Crocuta crocuta spelaea ) in Siberia was a significant factor in delaying human colonization of Alaska .
Proteles is a genus of distinctive hyenas which contain the aardwolf (Proteles cristatus) and its close fossil relatives. [1] It is the only extant genus of the subfamily Protelinae.
The remains — buried in layers of soil in the collapsed cave — contained the genetic material of cave bears, hyenas and 13 bones of early humans who died some 45,000 years ago.
Hyenas are large, powerful animals, up to 80 kg (176 lb) and represent one of the most prolific large carnivorans on the planet. The aardwolf is much smaller and is a specialised feeder, eating mainly harvester termites. Family Herpestidae (mongooses, kusimanses, and the meerkat) has 32 species. Previously, these were placed in the family ...
Rank Species Binomial name Image Weight range (kg) Maximum weight (kg) Length range (m) Maximum length (m) [a] Shoulder height (cm) Native range by continent(s)
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