Crocuta crocuta. Spotted Hyena. The laughing hyena. One of the highly prejudiced, stereotyped and disdained mammal. No wonder, many demeaning African folklores and symbolisms revolve around the infamous fisi. The dirty hyena. Hyena and witches. Hyena and revenge. But these seemingly good for nothing mammals have some of the most interesting and complex reproductive system and social structure.
Most of us believe the spotted hyena is a scavenger, eat dead animals and snatches kills from lions and cheetahs. Far from it. They are super skilled predators who prefer fresh kills and hunt at least 50 percent of their meals, with an average hyena eating at least 14 kilograms of meat in each kill. They do not tolerate wastage. They chomp through every part of the prey. They consume even hooves, bones and teeth!
The spotted hyena have a linage of queens. The ladies dominate. The clans are matriarchies lead by alpha female. Even the lowest ranking female is dominant over the highest ranking male! After puberty, the male leave the clan into which they were born. On joining new clan, the ‘immigrant’ male hyena become the lowest ranking member. There are subordinate to all offsprings of that clan’s females, any native male and ‘immigrant’ males who joined the clan before them. Interestingly, ‘immigrant’ males get a perk that native males do not enjoy. Females prefer younger males and are more likely to mate with lower ranking ‘immigrants’. Diversifying the gene pool? Within their hierarchy, the passive and submissive male also tend to have greater success in courting female than aggressive males.
The clan is a fission-fusion society and hierarchy is highly nepotistic. Offsprings of the dominant female tend to automatically out rank adult females subordinate to their mother. They are the only non-primates known to pass status from mother to daughter. The dominancy is not related to age or aggression but more on allies, networks and coalition.
The physical appearance of the female spotted hyena genitalia is one of its kind. If you are lucky to see between a spotted lady’s back legs, you will find a thick phallic structure complete with false scrotum and testis. Their clitoris is shaped like penis and labia fused to form pseudoscrotum. The clitoris is enormously elongated to form a fully erectile pseudopenis. It is the only known
female mammal with no external vaginal opening. So unique that people have for long time assumed spotted hyenas are hermaphrodite.
So what is this peculiar genitalia all about? No body, apart from may be the spotteds, who really seem to fully understand. It is however clear that it help in recognizing clan members during the “greeting ceremony” where they stand side-by-side, head-to-tail sniffing each other’s erected phallus. It is also urged that this unique reproductive tract give the female lots of control over the father of her offspring. Mating is a laborious task for the male and the female have to be fully in consent. Strangely, the bladder also empties into the same channel thus it is practically possible for the female to ‘flush’ the inserted sperms if need be. Mating, urination and even giving birth is through the pseudopenis (clitoris). Imagine giving birth to a one and half kilograms cub through the clit. The cubs are the largest carnivore young relative to their mothers’ weight. During parturition, the clitoris ruptures in order to facilitate passage and may take weeks to heal. The cubs are born with eyes open and erupted teeth. Siblicide (killing among siblings) is common with up to 25% death occurring within first month.
The spotteds are relatively intelligent and have far larger brain than their stripped and brown hyena cousins. They have a particularly enlarged forebrain- the region of the brain that is involved with complex decision making. They have outperformed chimpanzees on cooperative problem solving! They are known to use deceptive behavior. They live in large clans of up to 120 individuals and they seem to be keen to know each other on individual levels.
Strange but true, they may be having more true friends than most of us.
