Editing Hyena (section)

===Origins===
Hyenas originated in the jungles of [[Miocene]] Eurasia 22&nbsp;million years ago, when most early feliform species were still largely [[arboreal]]. The first ancestral hyenas were likely similar to the modern [[African civet]]; one of the earliest hyena species described, ''[[Plioviverrops]]'', was a lithe, civet-like animal that inhabited Eurasia 20–22&nbsp;million years ago, and is identifiable as a hyaenid by the structure of the [[middle ear]] and dentition. The lineage of ''Plioviverrops'' prospered, and gave rise to descendants with longer legs and more pointed jaws, a direction similar to that taken by canids in [[North America]].<ref name="mac119">{{Harvnb|Macdonald|1992|pp=119–144}}</ref>
Hyenas then diversified into two distinct types: lightly built dog-like hyenas and robust bone-crushing hyenas. Although the dog-like hyenas thrived 15&nbsp;million years ago (with one [[taxon]] having colonised North America), they became extinct after a change in climate, along with the arrival of canids into Eurasia. Of the dog-like hyena lineage, only the insectivorous [[aardwolf]] survived, while the bone-crushing hyenas (including the [[Extant taxon|extant]] spotted, [[brown hyena|brown]] and striped hyenas) became the undisputed top scavengers of Eurasia and Africa.<ref name="mac119" />