HY^ENID^E 541 



\ ; total 34. Teeth, especially canines and premolars, very large, 

 strong, and conical. Upper carnassial (Fig. 245) with a very large, 

 distinctly trilobed blade and a moderately developed inner tubercle 

 placed at the anterior 

 extremity of the blade. 

 Molar very small, and 

 placed transversely close 

 to the hinder edge of the 

 last, as in the Felidce. 

 Lower carnassial con- 

 sisting of little more than 

 the bilobed blade. Zygo- 

 matic arches of cranium A ^^ B 



Very wide and Strong. FIG. 245. Outer (A) and palatal (B) aspects of the right 



Sao-ittal rrpst, hiVh e-ivine 1 u PP er c 41 188 " 11 ^ th of the Striped Hyaena (Hyaxui 

 Ulgn, giving gtrjata From tte Quart. Journ.Geol.Soc. 



attachment to very power- 

 ful biting muscles. Orbits incomplete behind. Vertebrae : C 7, 

 D 15, L 5, S 4, C 19. Limbs rather long, especially the anterior 

 pair, digitigrade, four subequal toes on each, with stout non- 

 retractile claws. Pollex and hallux only represented by rudi- 

 mentary metacarpal and metatarsal bones. Tail rather short. A 

 large post-anal median glandular pouch, into which the largely 

 developed anal scent glands pour their secretion. 



The three existing species of Hya3na are divisible into two 

 sections, to which some zoologists assign generic rank, but fossil 

 forms show such a transition between these two types as to render 

 any such division impracticable. 



The typical or Euhycenine group presents the following dis- 

 tinctive features. Upper molar moderately developed and three- 

 rooted. An inner cusp and hind talon more or less developed on 

 the lower molar. Ears large, pointed. Hair long, forming a mane 

 on the back and shoulders. H. striata, the Striped Hyaena (Fig. 246) 

 of Northern Africa and Southern Asia. H. brunnea, of South Africa, 

 in some respects intermediate between this and the next group. 



The Striped Hyaena is dirty gray in colour, with narrow trans- 

 verse tawny or blackish stripes on the body and legs ; the length of 

 the head and body is 3| feet, and that of the tail, with its hair, 

 1| feet. It occurs throughout peninsular India, where it is most 

 common in open hilly districts, and in North Africa. Mr. Blanford l 

 gives the following account of its habits : " It is a nocturnal animal, 

 and although an occasional individual may be met with returning to 

 its den in the early morning, its rambles are usually commenced after 

 sunset and ended before sunrise. During the night it roams far and 

 Avide, and no tracks of wild animals are more common in the countries 

 where it is found than its unmistakable footprints, very like a dog's 

 1 Fauna of British ItwLia, "Mammalia," p. 133 (1888). 



