Spotted hyena (Crocuta crocuta), Kruger National Park, South Africa

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Photo: Diego Delso · CC BY-SA 4.0

SpeciesCarnivoraHyaenidae

Carnivores

🐺Spotted hyena

Crocuta crocuta (Erxleben, 1777)

The spotted hyena, also known as the laughing hyena, is a hyena species, currently classed as the sole extant member of the genus Crocuta, native to sub-Saharan Africa. It is listed as being of least concern by the IUCN due to its widespread range and large numbers estimated between 27,000 and 47,000 individuals. The species is, however, experiencing declines outside of protected areas due to habitat loss and poaching. Populations of Crocuta, usually considered a subspecies of Crocuta crocuta, known as cave hyenas, roamed across Eurasia for at least one million years until the end of the Late Pleistocene. The spotted hyena is the largest extant member of the Hyaenidae, and is further physically distinguished from other species by its vaguely bear-like build, rounded ears, less prominent mane, spotted pelt, more dual-purposed dentition, fewer nipples, and pseudo-penis. It is the only placental mammalian species where females have a pseudo-penis and lack an external vaginal opening.

Text: Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

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Also called

Crocuta crocuta

Conservation status

LCLeast concern

IUCN Red List assessment, 2015.

Population trendDecreasing

Key measurements

Body mass: 63 kg
Body length: 1.38 m
Shoulder height: 0.81 m
Top speed: 60 km/h
Bite force: 773 N
Maximum lifespan: 41 years

All measurements ↓

Facts and figures

Everything we know about the Spotted hyena

Typical adult figures. Where a value is an estimate rather than a measurement, it says so.

Body mass

63 kg

COMBINE

Other figures ↓

Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0

Figures vary

63 kgAnAgeAnAge build 15, 2023-07-03 (HAGR)data quality: acceptable

Body length

1.38 m

COMBINE

Details ↓

Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0

Shoulder height

0.81 maverage0.81–0.82 m · range across sexes

Other figures ↓

Species-level value synthesised as the mean of: female, male.

By sex

Male0.81 mHayssen & Noonan 2021, Mammalian Species 53(1000)Females are the larger sex in this species: 0.82 m.
Female0.82 mHayssen & Noonan 2021, Mammalian Species 53(1000)Females are the larger sex in this species.

Top speed

60 km/h

Details ↓

Sprint over a short distance, not a sustained pace. Compilations give 59.98 and 62.99 km/h.

Source: Christiansen 2002, Zool J Linn Soc 136:685 and Iriarte-Diaz 2002, J Exp Biol 205:2897; compiled in Hirt et al. 2017, Nat Ecol Evol 1:1116, Supplementary Data · see citation

Bite force

773 N

Details ↓

Canine bite modelled by the dry-skull method (Thomason 1991) from a prepared skull; static bite at the canines, gape not stated. Not a live measurement. The skull's estimated body mass was 69.1 kg. IMPORTANT: the famous 7000-9000 N hyena figure is NOT a bite force -- it is the force required to crack ungulate long bones (Tanner et al. 2008, Biol J Linn Soc 95:246). Bite forces up to 3500 N have been measured in captive spotted hyenas (Binder & Van Valkenburgh 2000, J Zool 252:273, reported via Tanner et al. 2008), well above this modelled canine value.

Source: Wroe, McHenry & Thomason 2005, Proc R Soc B 272:619, Table 1 · see citation

Bite force for its size

117

Details ↓

Bite force normalised for body mass: the residual of canine bite force regressed on body mass, average across the sample set to 100. Above 100 means the animal bites harder than its size predicts. Do not cross-check against Wikipedia's BFQ table, which silently mixes this paper with Christiansen & Wroe 2007 and cites a popular-science book.

Source: Wroe, McHenry & Thomason 2005, Proc R Soc B 272:619, Table 1 · see citation

Brain mass

153 g

COMBINE

Details ↓

Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0

Maximum lifespan

41 years

COMBINE

Other figures ↓

Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0