--- title: "Spotted Hyena (Crocuta crocuta) | AnimalTracks.wiki" description: "Bone-crushing jaws, matriarchal clan rule, and a whoop that carries for miles." image: "https://animaltracks.wiki/images/animals/spotted-hyena-1.webp" published: "2026-08-31" updated: "2026-09-14" --- # Spotted Hyena (*Crocuta crocuta*) > **Status**: Checked against 8 sources, listed under Sources below. > **Tagline**: Bone-crushing jaws, matriarchal clan rule, and a whoop that carries for miles. > **Soundtrack Vibe**: Industrial Hip-Hop & Experimental Noise // Death Grips, "Guillotine" > **Soundtrack Links**: [Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/track/3IrcvqIf3ZiBhf3xdsctRX) | [YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SW9H1b7zXUY) > **Vibe Match**: Spotted hyenas have more than 11 recorded sounds, from a nervous giggle to a whoop heard for miles. Death Grips works the same range: manic vocal intensity over abrasive, distorted breakbeats. ## Biological Superpowers & Stats - **Taxonomy**: *Crocuta crocuta* - **Danger Level**: Deadly - **Conservation Status**: Least Concern ([IUCN Red List](https://doi.org/10.2305/iucn.uk.2015-2.rlts.t5674a45194782.en)) - **Superpower**: Jaws that crush bone with ease, in a skull that helps spread the stress of a bite. - **Habitat**: Savannas, semi-arid regions, swamps, and mountainous forest across sub-Saharan Africa - **Diet**: Wildebeest, zebras, Cape buffalo and gazelles, eaten bones and all, plus scavenged leftovers - **Tags**: mammal, carnivore, scavenger, savanna, arid, wetlands, mountains, vocalist, intelligent ## Natural History & Behavior ## Jaws That Crush Bone The **spotted hyena** (*Crocuta crocuta*) has powerful jaws that crush bone with ease. It eats practically every part of its prey, including skin, hooves, bone and teeth, which most other predators could not eat. A computer model of a spotted hyena skull mid-bite found the stress running in an arc from the bite point up through the domed forehead and along the bony crest on top of the skull. The results suggest the skull's air-filled sinuses, together with that domed forehead, help it resist bending and spread the stress evenly away from the face. Spotted hyenas can also digest things that most other animals cannot, like skin and bone, thanks to special acids in their stomach, and a hyena can eat a third of its own body weight at one meal. Spotted hyenas measure 1.2 to 1.8 meters (4 to 5.9 feet) long and stand 77 to 81 centimeters (2.5 to 2.6 feet) at the shoulder. Weight runs from 40 to 86 kilograms (88 to 190 pounds), and females are 10 percent heavier than males. Half of all spotted hyena young die before they reach maturity, at about three years old. The oldest on record lived to 41.1 years in captivity. ## A Strong, Capable Hunter The bigger the clan, the larger its prey, which can include adult wildebeest, zebras and Cape buffalo, while smaller packs chase down gazelles. A seven-year study of one large wild clan in Kenya's Masai Mara found that over 75 percent of 272 hunting attempts were made by lone hyenas, even when they hunted antelope three times their own body mass, and about one in three attempts ended in a catch. Spotted hyenas also scavenge, competing with jackals and vultures for leftovers. ## Clan Rule Is Female A spotted hyena clan can hold up to 100 members, and its society is matriarchal. Females are larger and, on average, much more assertive and aggressive than males, and even a low-ranking female's cubs outrank the highest-ranking adult male who has moved in from another clan. Lower-ranking males are forced to stay on the outskirts of the clan, allowed to join only for a hunt or a fight against another clan or lions. > **How Cubs Get Their Rank** Young hyenas take a place in the dominance hierarchy next to their mothers'. In a large wild clan in Kenya, high-ranking mothers intervened on behalf of their cubs more often, and more effectively, than low-ranking mothers did. Young monkeys such as baboons and macaques appear to "inherit" their mothers' ranks by strikingly similar mechanisms. ## The Most Vocal Mammal in Africa More than 11 different sounds have been recorded from spotted hyenas. Their famous giggle sounds like a human laughing, and they use it in moments of nervous excitement or submission to a dominant hyena. The whoop, heard for miles, is used to find cubs, advertise territory or bring the clan together, and hyenas can tell which individual is whooping. ## Problem Solvers In a problem-solving test in the wild, the hyenas that tried a greater variety of approaches at first were more successful. Juveniles solved the problem as often as adults, while exploring in more varied ways, persisting longer and showing less fear of new things. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### How does a spotted hyena's skull cope with cracking bone? Breaking open large bones has evolved independently in only three groups of carnivorous mammals, and all of them have robust teeth, domed foreheads and a pronounced crest of bone along the top of the skull. A computer model of a spotted hyena skull mid-bite found the stress running in an arc from the bite point up through the forehead and along that crest. The results suggest the skull's air-filled sinuses, together with the domed forehead, help it resist bending and spread the stress evenly away from the face. *(Source: [Tanner et al. 2008]())* ### Do spotted hyenas hunt, or just scavenge? They hunt: a seven-year study of one large wild clan in Kenya's Masai Mara recorded 272 hunting attempts, more than 75 percent of them by a lone hyena, even against antelope three times its own body mass. About one in three attempts ended in a catch. Of the prey they commonly hunted, only zebras were usually hunted in groups, and young hyenas were poor hunters and did not reach adult skill until they were five or six years old. *(Source: [Holekamp et al. 1997]())* ### Are spotted hyena clans led by females? Yes: spotted hyenas have a matriarchal society. Females are larger and, on average, much more assertive and aggressive than males, and even a low-ranking female's cubs outrank the highest-ranking adult male who has moved in from another clan. Lower-ranking males are forced to stay on the outskirts of the clan, allowed to join only for a hunt or a fight against another clan or lions. *(Source: [San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance]())* ## Sources 1. [Spotted Hyena. San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance.]() 2. [Crocuta crocuta (spotted hyena). AnAge: The Animal Ageing and Longevity Database.]() 3. [Tanner et al. (2008). Of arcs and vaults: the biomechanics of bone-cracking in spotted hyenas (Crocuta crocuta). Biological Journal of the Linnean Society.]() 4. [Holekamp et al. (1997). Hunting rates and hunting success in the spotted hyena (Crocuta crocuta). Journal of Zoology.]() 5. [Engh et al. (2000). Mechanisms of maternal rank 'inheritance' in the spotted hyaena, Crocuta crocuta. Animal Behaviour.]() 6. [Holekamp et al. (2011). Society, demography and genetic structure in the spotted hyena. Molecular Ecology.]() 7. [Benson-Amram & Holekamp (2012). Innovative problem solving by wild spotted hyenas. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences.]() 8. [Bohm & Höner (2015). Crocuta crocuta. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2015: e.T5674A45194782.]() *Published August 31, 2026. 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