Hyenas are more than the carrion-eating villains of The Lion King . Though you may not ever fall in love with these cunning animals, itâs hard not to respect them.
Hyenas donât just laugh for fun. Scientists say that the pitch and the note frequency (or tone) of a hyenaâs laugh can give an indication of its age and social status.
The size of an animal's frontal cortex is believed to be connected to its social intelligence, and hyenas have a frontal cortex on par with primates. A study done by Duke University showed that a captive pair of hyenas performed better at problem-solving and social cooperation than chimpanzees. Even more amazing is that during the study, the hyenas solved all the problems in silence, using only non-verbal signals for communication.
Hyenas and lions often fight over the same territories and hunt the same prey. This leads to fierce competition between the two animals. They steal each otherâs food and kill off the young of their enemies .
Despite what Simba would have you believe, spotted hyenas donât just scavenge for lion leftovers. Spotted hyenas hunt and kill in packs. Ninety-five percent of what a hyena eats comes from hunting. A group of hyenas can devour an entire zebra, leaving no leftoversânot even the bonesâ in under half an hour . However, this feeding frenzy comes at a cost; hyenas rip, claw, and fight with one another over the remains of their meal.
Of course, striped hyenas are a different story. Striped hyenas live off of carrion and are often hit by vehicles while eating road kill .
Female spotted hyenas are more muscular and more aggressive than their male counterparts. This is because the females have three times as much testosterone in their bodies. As a result, spotted hyena societies are matriarchal . Even baby girl cubs rule over the boys.
Female spotted hyenas have a pseudo-penis that is basically an elongated clitoris . Some pseudo-penises can grow up to seven inches long, totally besting the average length of the human penis.
The female spotted hyena uses her pseudo-penis for urination, copulation, and birth, which can make the birthing process difficultâitâs estimated that 60 percent of hyena cubs die from suffocation. (It's dangerous for the mothers, too; the baby cubs can tear the pseudo-penis lining, an injury that can prove fatal.) Those that do survive face several hardships of their own: Female hyenas have only two nipples, so litters of more than two have to fight to survive, leaving the weakest cubs to die of starvation .Â
When a spotted hyena greets another hyena after a long separation, they engage in greeting ceremonies  during which both male and female members of the species develop erections.
In women-dominated spotted hyena clans, adult males are the lowest of the low. When the male hyena reaches sexual maturity at the age of two, he leaves home and goes to find a new group. This is a violent and vicious process. When the new group's alpha female finally allows the male in, he is welcomed by being constantly harassed and forced to struggle for food and sex .
Historians theorized that ancient Egyptians domesticated striped hyenas and used them as a food source. In ancient hieroglyphics, hyenas are often depicted in subordinate positions, being hunted and tamed. But in a 2010 paper published in the International Journal of Osteoarchaeology , A. J. Legge surmises that this was all just Egyptian pomp. Because the striped hyena lives off of carrion, they would make for a terrible meal (what with all that trichinosis). Legge concludes that while hyenas may have been tamed for a period, it didnât last long.
Sordid myths and legends  about hyenas abound. In Tanzania and India, legend holds that witches ride hyenas. An Ethiopian folk religion tells of people who possess the evil eye and can change themselves into the creatures. In the Middle Ages, hyenas were believed to dig up and consume the bodies of the dead. (Itâs worth noting that they do nothing of the sort.)
Given their reputations as scavengersâand their creepy laughsâit makes sense that plenty of people donât like hyenas. In Green Hills of Africa , Ernest Hemingway wrote:
Hemingway: 1, Hyenas: 0.
Loading recommendations... Please wait while we load personalized content recommendations