Cave hyena

Cave hyenas were large, extinct relatives of today's African spotted hyenas. They lived in Eurasia during the Pleistocene epoch, ranging from Western Europe and West Asia all the way to eastern Siberia, East Asia, and Southeast Asia. These powerful animals were top hunters, often found in caves, especially from the Last Glacial Period. They hunted big animals like wild horses, steppe bison, and aurochs, and their remains are found in many caves, sinkholes, and muddy areas near rivers.

Much like today's spotted hyenas, cave hyenas likely lived in groups called clans. They shared their environment with large predators such as the cave lion, and the two species probably competed for food. Scientists think cave hyenas were slightly larger than their African cousins and may have been a separate species or subspecies.

Cave hyenas lived at the same time as both Neanderthals and early modern humans in Europe. Sometimes, they would eat the remains of Neanderthals. We also see images of cave hyenas in ancient cave paintings. The exact reason these animals went extinct isn't fully known, but it may have been due to changes in climate, fewer prey animals, and the presence of humans.

Description

Distribution and evolution

The Crocuta hyenas first appeared in Asia outside of Africa during the Early Pleistocene, around 2 million years ago. They later arrived in Europe around 800,000 years ago, close to when a different type of hyena called the "giant hyena" went extinct there.

These hyenas lived widely across northern Eurasia during the Middle to Late Pleistocene. Their range stretched from places like the Iberian Peninsula, Britain, and Ireland all the way to southern Siberia, Mongolia, northern China, and even the Pacific Coast of the Russian Far East and North Korea. They lived as far south as Uzbekistan in Central Asia and Azerbaijan. One type, known as C. c. ultima, reached as far southeast as Guangxi and Taiwan in southern China, as well as parts of Thailand, Cambodia, and Laos. These hyenas also lived in the Middle East, extending to the Judaean Desert in Israel, the Nefud Desert in northern Saudi Arabia, and the Zagros Mountains in western Iran. Although there are older records from the Siwalik Hills in northern India, only a few records of these hyenas exist from the Late Pleistocene in India, found in places like the Billasurgam Caves, Kurnool Caves in Andhra Pradesh, and Tamil Nadu. The farthest north they were found was near the Vilyuy River in Northeast Siberia, where evidence shows they may have eaten woolly rhinoceros carcasses, suggesting they reached near the Arctic circle.

Ecology

Much like African spotted hyenas, cave hyenas likely lived in groups based on fossils found in caves. Some scientists think they were less social than today's spotted hyenas because their brains were shaped a bit differently. Though called "cave hyenas," they didn't only live in caves—they were also found in open areas and even had dens away from caves.

Illustration of cave hyenas consuming a cave bear carcass

Cave hyenas were hunters and often ate large animals like wild horse, aurochs, and steppe bison. They cracked open bones to eat the soft, fatty part inside, just like modern spotted hyenas. Their diet included many kinds of big herbivores, and they sometimes ate young animals or scavenged food left behind.

Cave hyenas sometimes competed with other predators, like cave lions. Though they both wanted the same food, cave hyenas were likely the stronger group because of their teamwork.

History of discovery and classification

The cave hyena was first fully described by Georges Cuvier in 1812, but pieces of their bones had been found and studied since the 1700s. Early scientists often made mistakes, thinking these bones belonged to lions, seals, or even calves. It wasn’t until the 1800s that scientists began to recognize these bones as belonging to a special type of hyena that lived in caves.

Cartoon by William Conybeare (1822) of Buckland discovering the Kirkdale hyena dens.

William Buckland studied bones found in Kirkdale Cave in Great Britain and confirmed that hyenas had once lived there. Other important discoveries were made in places like Oreston and Plymouth in the UK, and Zoolithen Cave in Germany. These findings helped scientists understand more about these ancient animals.

Genetics

Studies of cave hyena DNA show that they were closely related to hyenas in Africa but had been separate from them for about 2.5 million years. European and East Asian cave hyenas were also quite different from each other genetically, though they shared a closer relationship than either did with African hyenas. These genetic differences help scientists learn about how these animals lived and moved around thousands of years ago.

Relationships with humans

Cave hyenas and early humans, including Neanderthals, sometimes shared the same caves. Sometimes, hyenas would take food that Neanderthals had killed. There are also signs that Neanderthals might have hunted hyenas for their fur, though this did not happen often.

Cave hyenas appear in some very old paintings made long ago in France. These paintings show the hyenas with spots and different body shapes. One painting in Chauvet Cave might have started as a picture of a cave bear but was changed to a hyena. Other paintings are found in Lascaux, Le Portel Cave, and Le Gabillou Cave.

Extinction

A study from 2014 found that the youngest known remains of cave hyenas in Europe are about 31,000 years old. However, some evidence suggests they might have lived there until at least 24,000 years ago. Other studies hint that they could have survived even longer in places like the Iberian Peninsula, possibly up to 7,000 years ago, though these dates need careful checking.

Researchers think several reasons may have led to their disappearance, including colder temperatures, competition with other animals and humans for food and space, and fewer large animals for them to hunt. Climate change alone doesn’t fully explain why they went extinct in Europe; human actions and fewer prey animals also played a role.