spotted hyena, laughing hyena (Crocuta crocuta) Spotted hyena in the Masai Mara, Kenya.
Date 16 July 2013
Source http://www.flickr.com/photos/68240136@N02/9664581607/
Author Liaka ac http://www.flickr.com/people/68240136@N02/
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Crocuta_crocuta_Mara_Triangle.jpg
The spotted hyena or laughing hyena (Crocuta crocuta) is a species of hyena, currently classed as the sole member of the genus Crocuta, native to Sub-Saharan Africa. The species may have originated in Asia, and once ranged throughout Europe for at least one million years until the end of the Late Pleistocene. The spotted hyena is the largest known member of the Hyaenidae, and is further physically distinguished from other species by its vaguely bear-like build, its rounded ears, its less prominent mane, its spotted pelt, its more dual purposed dentition, its fewer nipples and the presence of a pseudo-penis in the female. It is the only mammalian species to lack an external vaginal opening.
Order: Carnivora
Family: Hyaenidae
Subfamily: Hyaeninae
Genus: Crocuta
Species: Crocuta crocuta (Erxleben, 1777)
Synonyms:
Crocuta capensis Heller, 1914
Canis crocuta Erxleben, 1777
Hyaena crocuto