Spotted hyaena Crocuta crocuta feeding ecology and selectivity of large herbivorous prey in the Namib desert

We have investigated the relationship between spotted hyaenas in the south Namib Desert and large herbivorous prey and have summarized an updated overview of predator‐prey relationships in this resource‐limited arid environment. Over the 52‐month study, we recorded the densities (#/km⁻², ±SE) of the four local large herbivorous prey species: gemsbok (1.229, ±0.50), springbok (1.352, ±0.48), ostrich (0.648, ±0.23), and greater kudu (0.343, ±0.00). A fecal analysis was performed on 146 collected spotted hyaena scats, and prey items were identified and hairs cross‐follicle analyzed to the species level. Spotted hyaena diet at the study area remained opportunistic with 240 identified prey items representing eight differing prey species being recorded, ranging from ostrich eggs to large ungulates. The Ivlev''s Electivity Index was used to determine which large herbivorous prey was most selected for. Although gemsbok had a higher representation of prey items in the sampled scats, all sampled large herbivorous prey species scored below 0 and are thus generally avoided in relation to their availability in the environment. If any prey preferences are expressed by spotted hyaena in the Namib, it can be presumed to be a nonsampled prey species. We therefore promote further detailed investigations into all other prey species present, and seasonal variations of prey densities and scat sampling, within the study environment.     

An Ice Age spotted hyena Crocuta crocuta spelaea (Goldfuss 1823) population,their excrements and prey from the Late Pleistocene hyena den of the Sloup Cave in the Moravian Karst,Czech Republic

A Late Pleistocene spotted hyena Crocuta crocuta spelaea (Goldfuss 1823) population from the cave bear den Sloup Cave, Moravia (Czech Republic) consists of mainly adult/senior and few cub/juvenile remains and coprolites, and 139 prey bones. Hyenas used the Nicová Cave branch that is connected to the entrance area mainly as a communal den site. Prey bone damage is most visible on the imported woolly rhinoceros remains. The partly excavated prey bone accumulation consists of a single woolly mammoth Mammuthus primigenius (Blumenbach 1799) tooth (2%), mainly Coelodonta antiquitatis (Blumenbach 1807) remains (16%), 4% Bos primigenius (Bojanus 1827) and 1% each of Megaloceros giganteus (Blumenbach 1799) and Rangifer tarandus (Linnaeus 1758). The other carnivores such as Panthera leo spelaea (Goldfuss 1810), Gulo gulo (Linnaeus 1758) and Canis lupus (Linnaeus 1758) subsp. are less represented (1–3%). Wolverines might have been imported also as prey remains, whereas wolves also possibly used this cave on a short-term basis, whereas steppe lions seem to have preyed upon cave bears deeper in the cave periodically, where even skeletons of P. leo spelaea were found in the Elisabeth Cave part.     

Behavioural structuring of relatedness in the spotted hyena (Crocuta crocuta) suggests direct fitness benefits of clan-level cooperation

Spotted hyenas (Crocuta crocuta) are gregarious carnivores that live in multigenerational social groups, called clans, containing one to several matrilines. Members of multiple matrilines within a clan cooperate during dangerous interactions with inter- and intraspecific competitors. The evolution of cooperation may be influenced by relatedness between individuals, which in turn is influenced by reproductive skew and mate choice, dispersal and territorial behaviours. Behavioural data exist for spotted hyenas, but corresponding data on patterns of relatedness are unavailable; this lack of data makes it difficult to assess the relative importance of selection pressures favouring cooperative behaviour within and among groups. Therefore we conducted a longitudinal analysis of relatedness within a single large clan of spotted hyenas, as well as a cross-sectional analysis of relatedness among hyenas from multiple clans. Within a clan, patterns of relatedness reflected known pedigree relationships, and relatedness was higher within than among matrilines, even across generations. Although mean within-matriline relatedness varied among matrilines, it did not decline with matriline rank. On average, clan members were not related closely, due to high levels of male-mediated gene flow among clans, and relatedness declined very slightly across clan borders. Low mean relatedness within clans suggests that spotted hyenas cooperate with unrelated clan-mates against close paternal kin in other clans. Our data also suggest that spotted hyenas must derive large net direct fitness benefits from group living and cooperation.     

Molecular systematics of the Hyaenidae: relationships of a relictual lineage resolved by a molecular supermatrix

The four extant species of hyenas (Hyaenidae; Carnivora) form a morphologically and ecologically heterogeneous group of feliform carnivorans that are remnants of a formerly diverse group of mammalian predators. They include the aardwolf (Proteles cristatus), a termite-feeding specialist, and three species with a craniodental morphology adapted to cracking the bones of prey and/or carcasses, the spotted hyena (Crocuta crocuta), brown hyena (Parahyaena brunnea), and striped hyena (Hyaena hyaena). Hyenas have been the subject of a number of systematic studies during the last two centuries, due in large part to the extensive fossil record of the group, with nearly 70 described fossil species. Morphological studies incorporating both fossil and living taxa have yielded different conclusions regarding the evolutionary relationships among living hyenas. We used a molecular supermatrix comprised of seven nuclear gene segments and the complete mitochondrial cytochrome b gene to evaluate phylogenetic relationships among the four extant hyaenid species. We also obtained sequence data from representative species of all the main families of the Feliformia (Felidae, Herpestidae, and Viverridae) to estimate the sister group of the Hyaenidae. Maximum parsimony and maximum likelihood analyses of the supermatrix recovered identical topologies. Furthermore, Bayesian phylogenetic analyses of the supermatrix, with among-site rate variation among data partitions parameterized in three different ways, also yielded the same topology. For each phylogeny reconstruction method, all but two nodes received 100% bootstrap or 1.00 posterior probability nodal support. Within the monophyletic Hyaenidae, Parahyaena and Hyaena were joined together, with Crocuta as the sister to this clade, and Proteles forming the most basal lineage. A clade containing two species of mongoose (core Herpestidae) plus Cryptoprocta ferox (currently classified in Viverridae) was resolved as the sister group of Hyaenidae. The pattern of relationships among the three bone-cracking hyaenids (Crocuta, Hyaena, and Parahyaena) is incongruent with recent cladistic assessments based on morphology and suggests the need to reevaluate some of the morphological characters that have been traditionally used to evaluate relationships among hyenas. Divergence time estimates based on a Bayesian relaxed molecular clock indicates that hyaenids diverged from their feliform sister group 29.2 MYA, in the Middle Oligocene. Molecular clock estimates also suggest that the origin of the aardwolf is much more recent (10.6 MYA) than that implied by a cladistic analysis of morphology ( approximately 20 MYA) and suggests that the aardwolf is possibly derived from a bone and meat eating lineage of hyaenids that were present in the Late Miocene. [Hyaenidae; phylogeny; cytochrome b; nuclear gene segments; Proteles; Crocuta; Hyaena; Parahyaena.].     

Coprolites as a source of information on the genome and diet of the cave hyena

We performed high-throughput sequencing of DNA from fossilized faeces to evaluate this material as a source of information on the genome and diet of Pleistocene carnivores. We analysed coprolites derived from the extinct cave hyena (Crocuta crocuta spelaea), and sequenced 90 million DNA fragments from two specimens. The DNA reads enabled a reconstruction of the cave hyena mitochondrial genome with up to a 158-fold coverage. This genome, and those sequenced from extant spotted (Crocuta crocuta) and striped (Hyaena hyaena) hyena specimens, allows for the establishment of a robust phylogeny that supports a close relationship between the cave and the spotted hyena. We also demonstrate that high-throughput sequencing yields data for cave hyena multi-copy and single-copy nuclear genes, and that about 50 per cent of the coprolite DNA can be ascribed to this species. Analysing the data for additional species to indicate the cave hyena diet, we retrieved abundant sequences for the red deer (Cervus elaphus), and characterized its mitochondrial genome with up to a 3.8-fold coverage. In conclusion, we have demonstrated the presence of abundant ancient DNA in the coprolites surveyed. Shotgun sequencing of this material yielded a wealth of DNA sequences for a Pleistocene carnivore and allowed unbiased identification of diet.