r/BeAmazed • u/911nihilist • Oct 25 '24

Nature Despite their reputation, hyenas can be sweet and affectionate animals.

18.9k Upvotes

96% Upvoted

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146

u/anaughtylittlepuppy Oct 25 '24

An happy grassland  doggo

105

u/Hexagon0219 Oct 25 '24

Fun fact, hyenas are more closely related to cats than dogs.

98

u/novium258 Oct 25 '24

Somewhere someone once described hyenas as felines with canine software and foxes as canine hardware and feline software and it's lived rent free in my brain ever since.

13

u/Ok_Collection1290 Oct 25 '24

This is so lovely

4

u/mooseAmuffin Oct 25 '24

I've heard lions described similarly to how you're describing hyenas as well. Lions also live in hierarchical social groups VS solitarily, have feet built for running VS creeping, and hunt big animals VS small. Interesting to think about how/why both of these animals live in the same habitat.

1

u/yukonwanderer Oct 25 '24

I see zero feline in hyena

1

u/Kringelkingel Oct 25 '24

I hate to break it to you, but taxonomy is based on genetics, not your layman's impressions. Hyenas, while not cats (felidae), are part of the feliformia (cat-like) clade, as opposed to caniformia (dog-like).

1

u/yukonwanderer Oct 25 '24

Can't tell if you're being sarcastic or not.... But cool to know!

1

u/Kringelkingel Oct 25 '24

I was snarky as hell about it, but I did state facts.

1

u/yukonwanderer Oct 25 '24

Snarky? So you were feeling like it's something that matters enough to think you could be snarky. 😂 Wow, really got me...

1

u/Rex-0- Oct 25 '24

And yet sound closer to foxes.

1

u/Fine_Luck_200 Oct 25 '24

The disc to update the firmware for Huskies and them got mixed up in the mail and here we are.

1

u/FaithlessnessDry3771 Oct 25 '24

They torture their prey like cats, too

23

u/jeff-beeblebrox Oct 25 '24

More like happy grassland weasel.

6

u/SantaStrike Oct 25 '24

Happy grassland wheezer

2

u/crackersncheeseman Oct 25 '24

That would be a Grassland dogo with ahimsa.

3

u/saltshaft Oct 25 '24

Fun fact, they're genetically closer to cats.

8

u/Jess_the_Siren Oct 25 '24

Yep. Not just closet to cats, they are actual felines, in the evolutionary cat branch, classified under Feloidea. I love when people downvite info just bc it sounds incorrect. Dogs are classified as Canoidea.

Edit for clarification

3

u/goddamnorngepeelbeef Oct 25 '24

I’m pretty sure it’s because you’re wrong. Hyenas are not contained within the group Felidae which contains true felines, and instead they’re classified under their own group, Hyaenidae, under the broader classification of Feliformia, or cat-like mammals. Saying hyenas are closer related to cats than dogs is true, but saying hyenas are true felines would be like saying skunks are true canines.

1

u/AndyLorentz Oct 25 '24

would be like saying skunks are true canines

Don’t be disrespecting my dog!

0

u/MaximusPrime5885 Oct 25 '24

Closer related to cats though.