Editing Hyena (section)

===Build===
{{further|Spotted hyena#Description|Striped hyena#Description|Aardwolf#Description|Brown hyena#Description}}
[[File:StripedHyenaSkull.jpg|thumb|right|220px|Striped hyena skull. Note the disproportionately large carnassials and premolars adapted for bone consumption]]
[[File:Aardwolfskull.jpg|thumb|right|220px|Aardwolf skull. Note the greatly reduced molars and carnassials, rendered redundant from insectivory]]
Hyenas have relatively short torsos and are fairly massive and [[wolf]]-like in build, but have lower hind quarters, high withers and their backs slope noticeably downward towards their rumps. The forelegs are high, while the hind legs are very short and their necks are thick and short. Their skulls superficially resemble those of large canids, but are much larger and heavier, with shorter facial portions. Hyenas are [[digitigrade]], with the fore and hind paws having four digits each and sporting bulging pawpads.<ref name="h3" /> Like canids, hyenas have short, blunt, non-retractable claws.<ref name="p62" /> Their [[Fur|pelage]] is sparse and coarse with poorly developed or absent underfur. Most species have a rich mane of long hair running from the withers or from the head.<ref name="h3">{{Harvnb|Heptner|Sludskii|1992|p=3}}</ref> With the exception of the spotted hyena, hyaenids have striped coats, which they likely inherited from their [[viverrid]] ancestors.<ref name="mac119" /> Their ears are large and have simple basal ridges and no marginal bursa.<ref name="p62" /> Their [[vertebral column]], including the [[Cervical vertebrae|cervical region]] are of limited mobility. Hyenas have no [[baculum]].<ref name="h4" /> Hyenas have one more pair of ribs than canids do, and their tongues are rough like those of felids and viverrids.<ref>Holl, William & Wood, Neville ''The Analyst: a quarterly journal of science, literature, natural history, and the fine arts, Volume 10'', p. 59, Simpkin & Marshall, 1840</ref> Males in most hyena species are larger than females,<ref name="m21">{{Harvnb|Mills|Hofer|1998|p=21}}</ref> though the spotted hyena is an exception, as it is the female of the species that outweighs and dominates the male. Also, unlike other hyenas, the [[Female genitalia of spotted hyenas|female spotted hyena's external genitalia]] closely resembles that of the male.<ref name="k210">{{Harvnb|Kruuk|1972|pp=210–211}}</ref>

Their [[dentition]] is similar to that of the [[canid]], but is more specialised for consuming coarse food and crushing bones. The [[carnassial]]s, especially the upper, are very powerful and are shifted far back to the point of exertion of peak pressure on the jaws. The other teeth, save for the underdeveloped upper [[molar (tooth)|molars]], are powerful, with broad bases and cutting edges. The [[canine teeth|canines]] are short, but thick and robust.<ref name="h4">{{Harvnb|Heptner|Sludskii|1992|pp=4–5}}</ref> [[Anatomical terms of location#Teeth|Labiolingually]], their [[mandible]]s are much stronger at the canine teeth than in canids, reflecting the fact that hyenas crack bones with both their anterior dentition and [[premolars]], unlike canids, which do so with their post-carnassial molars.<ref>{{cite journal|title=Mandibular force profiles of extant carnivorans and implications for the feeding behavior of extinct predators|journal=Journal of Zoology|year=2005|first=François|last=Therrien|volume=267|issue=3|pages=249–270|doi=10.1017/S0952836905007430 }}</ref> The strength of their jaws is such that both striped and spotted hyenas have been recorded to kill dogs with a single bite to the neck without breaking the skin.<ref name="johnson">[[Daniel Johnson (surgeon)|Daniel Johnson]] (1827) ''[https://archive.org/stream/sketchesofindian00johnrich#page/46/mode/2up/search/hyena Sketches of Indian Field Sports: With Observations on the Animals; Also an Account of Some of the Customs of the Inhabitants; with a Description of the Art of Catching Serpents, as Practiced by the Conjoors and Their Method of Curing Themselves when Bitten: with Remarks on Hydrophobia and Rabid Animals]'' p. 45-46, R. Jennings, 1827</ref><ref name="hamilton">Stevenson-Hamilton, James (1917) ''[https://archive.org/details/animallifeinafri01steviala Animal life in Africa], Vol. 1'', p.95, London : William Heinemann</ref> The spotted hyena is renowned for its strong bite proportional to its size, but a number of other animals (including the [[Tasmanian devil]]) are proportionately stronger.<ref>{{cite web|last=Salleh|first=Anna|title=Marsupial has the deadliest bite|url=http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2005/04/04/1336220.htm|publisher=abc.net.au|access-date=24 January 2013|date=4 April 2005}}</ref><ref name="Wroe2005">{{cite journal|last1=Wroe|first1=S.|last2=McHenry|first2=C.|last3=Thomason|first3=J.|year=2005|title=Bite club: comparative bite force in big biting mammals and the prediction of predatory behaviour in fossil taxa|journal=Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences|pmid=15817436|volume=272|issue=1563|pmc=1564077|pages=619–625|doi=10.1098/rspb.2004.2986}}</ref> The aardwolf has greatly reduced cheek teeth, sometimes absent in the adult, but otherwise has the same dental formula as the other three species.<ref name="EoM">{{cite book|editor1-last=Macdonald|editor1-first=D.|last1=Richardson|first1=Philip K.R.|last2=Bearder|first2=Simon|year=1984|title=The Encyclopedia of Mammals|publisher=Facts on File|location=New York|pages=[https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofma00mals_0/page/154 154–159]|isbn=0-87196-871-1|url=https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofma00mals_0/page/154 }}</ref> The [[dentition|dental formula]] for all hyena species is: {{DentalFormula|upper=3.1.4.1|lower=3.1.3.1}}

Although hyenas lack [[perineum|perineal]] scent glands, they have a large pouch of naked skin located at the anal opening. Large [[anal gland]]s above the anus open into this pouch. Several [[sebaceous gland]]s are present between the openings of the anal glands and above them.<ref name="p62">{{Harvnb|Pocock|1941|pp=62–63}}</ref> These glands produce a white, creamy secretion that the hyenas paste onto grass stalks. The odor of [[hyena butter|this secretion]] is very strong, smelling of boiling cheap [[soap]] or burning, and can be detected by humans several meters downwind.<ref name="k222">{{Harvnb|Kruuk|1972|p=222}}</ref> The secretions are primarily used for [[territorial marking]], though both the aardwolf<ref name="mac119" /> and the striped hyena<ref name="h38">{{Harvnb|Heptner|Sludskii|1992|p=38}}</ref> will [[Spraying (animal behavior)|spray]] them when attacked.