Pachycrocuta, the giant hyena
A hyena the size of a lion accumulates bones in caves — including, sometimes, hominin bones.
- When
- —
- Duration
- 1.7 million years
- Known to
- ± 200 thousand years
- Era
- Early Pleistocene, Quaternary
Pachycrocuta brevirostris weighs around 110 kilograms, the largest hyena known, with a build suited to carrying whole carcasses rather than running them down. Its den accumulations are a major source of Early Pleistocene fossils, including at Zhoukoudian, where bone assemblages once attributed to Homo erectus hunting were later reinterpreted as hyena kills — with the hominins among the prey. It is direct competition for the same scavenging niche early Homo was entering.