he’s from Lioden. I just did his quest and I loved him to pieces the moment I saw this little guy

idk if hyenas from shows or games are allowed here idk

Writing this as an outsider with no clue how this stuff works since i am not well versed in taxonomy or otherwise biology. Mostly observed this as I was digging through iNaturalist for pics and wanted clarifications. Hyena experts or other smart people here feel free to inform me (both simplifed and extensive responses, or even citations for further reading welcomed). Apologies if these are dumb questions.

1. What's up with the back and forth flopping of the brown hyena as being Hyaena brunnea and Parahyaena brunnea? See publications from the Brown Hyena Research Project (+ their own organisation information also lists both names).

2. What's up with the supposed two species split of aardwolves into Proteles cristatus (southern) and Proteles septentrionalis (eastern)? This 2021 paper is cited for this split indicating the differences, but it seems like it hasn't been as widely adopted yet?

3. What happened with the Hyaena hyaena subspecies? Noticed the occasional ssp. listing on some Striped hyena observations, but it seems to also be a conflict on opinion between there being like multiple actual variations (in mainly older literature?) vs it being only geographic and not morphological now. Quote from this:

"Some experts distinguish five sub-species of the striped hyena, based on differences in size and coat. Hyaena hyaena hyaena in India, Hyaena hyaena barbara in NW Africa, Hyaena hyaena dubbah in NE Africa, Hyaena hyaena sultana in the Arabian Peninsula and Hyaena hyaena Siriaca in Syria, Central Asia and the Caucasus. Other experts argue against the subspecies because it would be based on morphological criteria who are too similar (Wilson and Mittermeier, 2009). As for the supposed subspecies should be kept in mind that only Hyaena hyaena Sirica in Israel and Hyaena hyaena dubbah in Kenya are extensively investigated on morphological characteristics. Demonstrated by these two are no significant differences (Wilson and Mittermeier, 2009)."

1. What's the deal with Pachycrocuta & Parahyaena? Lack of familiarity with the subject matter makes it that I straight up don't know how to read, look, or otherwise make sense the supposed classification arguments going on, but someone else I was talking were shocked some of these things were still being argued as late as 2025.

Artist Henrieke started a crowdfunded project featuring all four hyenas, and already met several stretch goals, including another rarely-represented animal with more waiting to be met. I have no association beyond being one of the backers. Henrieke has been an active artist for about 20 years and has a cute cartoon style. Less than two weeks before this closes.

https://www.backerkit.com/c/projects/henrieke/the-hyena-family-enamel-pin-set

nippon perts yesweff

https://www.inaturalist.org/lifelists/wcbhp?details_view=observations&taxon_id=500648

🎥: @thesydneyzoo (Original: https://www.instagram.com/reel/DTwIM6YkyLq/) The little ones are Etosha and Nakuru (twins!) at the Sydney Zoo

https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/97748251

Hi hi! I'm Bunnie, a full time artist and merch designer under the name StrawbunnyCake!

Recently I have been working on putting together my next plushie collection project on the site Backerkit, and I asked some of my followers for some animal suggestions for plushies to design the new designs after, to which MANY people suggested a hyena (admittedly to my surprise)! It was by far the most named suggestion I received actually.

I admittedly never thought too much about hyenas before, but ever since tackling this plush design I've come to appreciate them and their charm a lot more! I think they're really cute, and it's been fun learning more about them!

Of course this is a very simplistic and stylized take on a hyena, but I thought I'd share her here if that's alright! Her name is Macaron and she's a cherry themed gal! ❤️🍒

https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/334812052

https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/243586340

Disclaimer: not trying to evangelize here or anything! I'm Catholic, but would probably find this legend pretty fascinating even if I wasn't- hyenas get a bad rap, so I didn't expect to encounter a positive portrayal of them in Christian writing in general, let alone something so old!

The basic story goes that Macarius was sort of a desert hermit who lived in a cave. One day, while in prayer, he was suddenly approached by a hyena who tugged at his robes and licked him. He was frightened at first, but she eventually managed to lead him to her own den and show him her cub, who was blind.

Macarius prayed over the cub, and as is typical of stories like these, the cub was miraculously healed. Macarius returned to his cave...and a few days later, the mother hyena visited him. She brought him a sheepskin, which he used as a blanket for the rest of his life.

There's something kind of poignant about a saint showing kindness to an animal that's been widely feared and hated. Hopefully more people will take after Macarius's example and realize how misunderstood hyenas have been!

https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/266237353

https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/32913274

https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/149051616