Spotted hyena skull specimen, University of Wyoming Library
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The spotted hyena was first officially described by German naturalist Johann Christian Polikap Elksler in 1777. The ancient Greek root of the scientific name of the spotted hyena was used by Pliny the Elder to describe an unknown animal in Ethiopia, possibly a hyena. In literature, it means "an object of saffron color.". Although spotted hyenas have some resemblance to the family Canidae, they are closer to the family Cichlidae. Spotted hyenas belong to the feline suborder and are therefore closer to the feline family than the canine family. The spotted hyena is currently the largest member of the hyenae family. It is believed that the ancestors of spotted hyenas branched out from striped hyenas during the Pliocene (5.33-1.8 million years ago).
