Brown hyena: Difference between revisions

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{{Taxobox
| color = pink
| name = brown hyena
| image = Brown hyena (Parahyaena brunnea) heading toward seal colony, namibia.jpg
| image_width = 250px
| image_caption = Brown hyena (''Parahyaena brunnea''), [[Namibia]].{{photo|Brian F Kuhn}}
| status =  LR/nt
| status_system = iucn2.3
| status_ref = <ref>[http://www.iucnredlist.org/search/details.php/10276/all]</ref>
| regnum = [[Animalia]]
| phylum = [[Chordata]]
| classis = [[Mammal]]ia
| ordo = [[Carnivora]]
| subordo = [[Feliformia]]
| familia = [[Hyaenidae]]
| genus = '''''Parahyaena'''''
| species = '''''P. brunnea'''''
| binomial = ''Parahyaena brunnea''
| binomial_authority = [[Thunberg]], 1820
}}


The '''brown hyena''' ''Parahyaena brunnea'' is the only species within the genus '''''Parahyaena'''''. It has the most restricted range of the members of the [[biological family|family]] [[Hyaenidae]]. Current research is showing that the behaviour of this hyena is extremely variable.
==Diet==
Not an efficient hunter, in most of its range the brown hyena is primarily a scavenger and forages a wide range of food from vegetables and fruit to reptiles, birds and mammals. The lone exception to this is the populations living on the Namibian coast where they have been observed killing seal pups. They are capable of scavenging from the largest available prey in the region <ref name=Kuhn>{{cite Thesis|title=The collecting behaviour and taphonomic signatures of hyaenids=|author=B. Kuhn|authorlink= |coauthors= |date=2006 |format= |work= |publisher=Unpublished|pages= |language= |archiveurl= |archivedate= |quote=}}</ref> They are known to collect vast quantities of faunal remains in their dens, said collections of bone are a direct reflection of the other species found in the region at the time of collection <ref name=Kuhn/>.
==Geographical distribution==
The range of brown hyena is limited to areas of Namibia, Botswana, South Africa, Zimbabwe and south west Angola. At one time their range extended all the way to Table Bay in the Western Cape of South Africa <ref name=Skinner/>.
==References==
{{reflist}}

Revision as of 01:18, 30 January 2008

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