Lycyaena

Lycyaena Temporal range: Late Miocene (Vallesian to Turolian)
Skull of Lycyaena
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Carnivora
Suborder:	Feliformia
Family:	Hyaenidae
Genus:	† Lycyaena Hensel, 1863
Type species
†Lycyaena dubia Zdansky, 1924
Other species
†L. chaeretis Gaudry, 1861 †L. macrostoma Lydekker, 1884 †L. crusafonti Kurtén, 1976
Synonyms
Species synonymy L. dubia: ?Lycyaena dubia Zdansky, 1924 Thalassictis (Lycyaena)Solounias & De Beaumont, 1981 Thalassictis (Lycyaena) dubiaQiu, 1985 L. chaeretis: Hyaena chaeretis Gaudry, 1861 Thalassictis chaeretisSolounias, 1981 Thalassictis (Lycyaena) chaeretisSolounias & De Beaumont, 1981 Thalassictis (Lycyaena)Solounias & De Beaumont, 1981 L. macrostoma: Hyaena macrostoma Lydekker, 1884 Lycyaena ?macrostomaKretzoi, 1938 Thalassictis macrostomaDe Vos, Leinders & Hussain, 1987 L. crusafonti: Lycyaena chaeretisSolounias, 1981

Lycyaena is an extinct genus of terrestrial carnivore in the family Hyaenidae. ^[1] Lycyaena was a cursorial hunting hyaena as opposed to full-time scavenger. It has been suggested by R. F. Ewer that Lycyaena may be a possible ancestor to today's aardwolf (Proteles cristatus). ^[2] Lycyaena lived in Eurasia and North Africa during the Late Miocene. ^[3]

References

1. Turner, A.; Antón, M.; Werdelin, L. (2008). "Taxonomy and evolutionary patterns in the fossil Hyaenidae of Europe". Geobios. 41 (5): 677. Bibcode:2008Geobi..41..677T. doi:10.1016/j.geobios.2008.01.001.
2. R. F. Ewer, The Carnivores (1973)
3. Faggi, Andrea (2025). "Revising the carnivores of Baccinello V3 faunal assemblage: palaeobiogeographic implications in the Messinian Italian carnivore record". Bollettino della Società Paleontologica Italiana. 64 (1): 19–46. doi:10.4435/BSPI.2025.03 (inactive 12 June 2025) – via ResearchGate.