Striped Hyena - Evolution

Evolution

The species may have evolved from H. namaquensis of Pliocene Africa. Striped hyena fossils are common in Africa, with records going back as far as the Middle Pleistocene and even to the Villafranchian. As fossil striped hyenas are absent from the Mediterranean region, it is likely that the species is a relatively late invader to Eurasia, having likely spread outside Africa only after the extinction of spotted hyenas in Asia at the end of the Ice Age. The striped hyena occurred for some time in Europe during the Pleistocene, having been particularly widespread in France and Germany. It also occurred in Montmaurin, Hollabrunn in Austria, the Furninha Cave in Portugal and the Genista Caves in Gibraltar. The European form was similar in appearance to modern populations, but was larger, being comparable in size to the brown hyena.

Read more about this topic:  Striped Hyena

Famous quotes containing the word evolution:

    The evolution of humans can not only be seen as the grand total of their wars, it is also defined by the evolution of the human mind and the development of the human consciousness.
    Friedrich Dürrenmatt (1921–1990)

    Historians will have to face the fact that natural selection determined the evolution of cultures in the same manner as it did that of species.
    Konrad Lorenz (1903–1989)

    The evolution of sense is, in a sense, the evolution of nonsense.
    Vladimir Nabokov (1899–1977)