In current taxonomy, the order carnivora is divided into two suborders: caniformia, or doglike carnivores; and feliformia, or catlike carnivores. There are more kinds of caniforms, which include bears and weasels, as well as pinnipeds (seals and walruses.) But hyenas are feliform. They look a little canine, but they're more closely related to cats. You just never know about people.
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Although phylogenetically they are closer to felines and viverrids, and belong to the feliform category, hyenas are behaviourally and morphologically similar to canines in several elements of convergent evolution; both hyenas and canines are non-arboreal, cursorial hunters that catch prey with their teeth rather than claws. Both eat food quickly and may store it, and their calloused feet with large, blunt, nonretractable claws are adapted for running and making sharp turns. However, the hyenas' grooming, scent marking, defecating habits, mating and parental behaviour are consistent with the behaviour of other feliforms.
Fascinating. It's wonderful to live in a world that has wikipedia in it. If only a lot more of the internet provided so much for so little.
Wikipedia can be a mess. Some bad info stays on it for years while accurate edits are disappeared for undefined "relevance" issues. Still, at the end of the day it's a nice resource to have.
Convergent evolution fascinates me. For example the way koalas have fingerprints the way some primates (like us, obviously) do, despite the last common ancestor being eons ago.
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