Editing Hyena (section)

===Behavior===
[[File:Brown hyena in Ghanzi, BW-GH, BW 2.jpg|thumb|Brown hyena marking its territory with its anal glands]]
[[File:2667 Spotted Hyena Cubs.JPG|thumb|200px|right|Spotted hyena cubs at their den]]
Hyenas [[personal grooming|groom themselves]] often like [[Felidae|felids]] and [[Viverridae|viverrids]], and their way of licking their genitals is very cat-like (sitting on the lower back, legs spread with one leg pointing vertically upward). They defecate in the same manner as other Carnivora, though they never [[Raised-leg urination|raise their legs as canids do when urinating]], as urination serves no territorial function for them. Instead, hyenas [[territorial marking|mark their territories]] using their anal glands, a trait found also in viverrids and [[Mustelidae|mustelid]]s, but not canids and [[Felidae|felid]]s.<ref name="k271">{{Harvnb|Kruuk|1972|pp=271–73}}</ref> When attacked by lions or dogs, striped<ref name="p72"/> and brown hyenas<ref name="mills60">{{Harvnb|Mills|Mills|2010|pp=60–61}}</ref> will [[Apparent death|feign death]], though the spotted hyena will defend itself ferociously.<ref name="hamilton" /> The spotted hyena is very vocal, producing a number of different sounds consisting of whoops, grunts, groans, lows, giggles, yells, growls, laughs and whines.<ref name="k220">{{Harvnb|Kruuk|1972|p=220}}</ref> The striped hyena is comparatively silent, its vocalizations being limited to a chattering laugh and howling.<ref name="p73">{{Harvnb|Pocock|1941|p=73}}</ref>
[[file:Spotted_Hyaena_(Crocuta_crocuta)_(W1CDR0000381_BD12).ogg|left|thumb|Whoop of a spotted hyena in Umfolosi Game Park, South Africa.]]
{{Anchor|Mating}}
[[Animal sexual behavior|Mating]] between hyenas involves a number of short copulations with brief intervals, unlike canids, who generally [[canine tying|engage in a single, drawn out copulation]].<ref name="k271" /> Spotted hyena cubs are born almost fully developed, with their eyes open and erupting incisors and canines, though lacking adult markings.<ref name="k247">{{Harvnb|Kruuk|1972|pp=247–249}}</ref> In contrast, striped hyena cubs are born with adult markings, closed eyes and small ears.<ref name="r350">{{Harvnb|Rosevear|1974|p=350}}</ref> Hyenas do not [[regurgitation (digestion)|regurgitate]] food for their young and male spotted hyenas play no part in raising their cubs,<ref name="k271" /> though male striped hyenas do so.<ref name="h40">{{Harvnb|Heptner|Sludskii|1992|pp=40–42}}</ref>

The striped hyena is primarily a scavenger, though it will also attack and kill any animals it can overcome,<ref name="p72">{{Harvnb|Pocock|1941|p=72}}</ref> and will supplement its diet with fruit.<ref name="h31">{{Harvnb|Heptner|Sludskii|1992|pp=31–33}}</ref> The spotted hyena, though it also scavenges occasionally, is an active pack hunter of medium to large sized [[ungulates]], which it catches by wearing them down in long chases and dismembering them in a canid-like manner. Spotted hyenas may kill as many as 95% of the animals they eat.<ref>[http://www.hyaenidae.org/the-hyaenidae/spotted-hyena-crocuta-crocuta/crocuta-diet-and-foraging.html Hyaena Specialist Group - Spotted Hyena: Diet and Foraging] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110204092003/http://www.hyaenidae.org/the-hyaenidae/spotted-hyena-crocuta-crocuta/crocuta-diet-and-foraging.html|date=2011-02-04 }}. Hyaenidae.org. Retrieved on 2015-11-06.</ref>

The aardwolf is primarily an insectivore, specialised for feeding on [[termite]]s of the genus ''[[Trinervitermes]]'' and ''[[Hodotermes]]'', which it consumes by licking them up with its long, broad tongue. An aardwolf can eat 300,000 ''Trinervitermes'' on a single outing.<ref name="mac119" />

Except for the aardwolf, hyenas are known to drive off larger predators, like lions, from their kills, despite having a reputation in popular culture for being cowardly.<ref name="p72"/> Hyenas are primarily nocturnal animals, but sometimes venture from their lairs in the early-morning hours. With the exception of the highly social spotted hyena, hyenas are generally not gregarious animals, though the striped and brown hyenas may live in family groups and congregate at kills.<ref name="r343">{{Harvnb|Rosevear|1974|pp=343–344}}</ref>

Spotted hyenas are one of the few mammals other than bats known to survive infection with rabies virus<ref>{{cite journal|date=18 December 2001|title=Regular exposure to rabies virus and lack of symptomatic disease in Serengeti spotted hyenas|journal=PNAS|volume=98|issue=26|doi=10.1073/pnas.261411898|pmid=11742089| last1=East| first1=M.L.|pages=15026–31|pmc=64977|bibcode=2001PNAS...9815026E|doi-access=free}}</ref> and have shown little or no disease-induced mortality during outbreaks in sympatric carnivores, in part due to the high concentration of [[Antibody|antibodies]] present in their saliva.<ref>{{cite journal|date=7 October 2015|title=Markedly Elevated Antibody Responses in Wild versus Captive Spotted Hyenas Show that Environmental and Ecological Factors Are Important Modulators of Immunity|journal=PLOS ONE|doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0137679|pmid=26444876| last1=Flies| first1=A.S.|display-authors=etal|volume=10|issue=10|pages=e0137679|pmc=4621877|bibcode=2015PLoSO..1037679F|doi-access=free}}</ref> Despite this perceived unique disease resistance, little is known about the immune system of spotted hyenas,<ref>{{cite journal|date=29 February 2016|title=Socioecological predictors of immune defenses in a wild spotted hyenas|journal=Functional Ecology|volume=30|issue=9|doi=10.1111/1365-2435.12638|pmid=27833242| last1=Flies| first1=A.S.|display-authors=etal|pages=1549–1557|pmc=5098940|bibcode=2016FuEco..30.1549F }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|date=15 January 2012|title=Development of a hyena immunology toolbox|journal=Veterinary Immunology and Immunopathology|volume=145|issue=1–2|doi=10.1016/j.vetimm.2011.10.016|pmid=22173276| last1=Flies| first1=A.S.|display-authors=etal|pages=110–9|pmc=3273618}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|date=2 February 2014|title=Characterization of toll-like receptors 1-10 in spotted hyenas|journal=Veterinary Research Communications|volume=38|doi=10.1007/s11259-014-9592-3|pmid=24488231| last1=Flies| first1=A.S.|display-authors=etal|issue=2|pages=165–70|pmc=4112752}}</ref> and even less is known about other Hyaenidae species.