Collection: Cave Hyena

The Cave Hyena is an extinct subspecies of the spotted Hyena that lived throughout Europe and northwestern Asia. Compared to modern African Spotted Hyenas, Cave Hyenas had longer limb bones and were in general more robust weighing about 225 pounds (102 kg) compared to the modern Hyena's 190 pounds (86 kg). Like modern Hyenas, Cave Hyenas were active predators who hunted in packs (or clans as they're called for Hyenas) using bone crushing bite forces well over 1000 psi (the modern Hyena has a bite force of 1100 psi, Cave Hyena's bite was probably quite a bit stronger)! Much like modern Hyenas, they would have been opportunistic and wouldn't turn down a carcass. Also like modern Hyenas, they most likely preferred to hunt rather than scavenge contrary to popular conception. Like their name suggests, caves where their preferred denning sites where they would drag the remains of the large Mammals they preyed on usually horse, bison and rhino. The accumulation of bones from these kills in caves have created fertile bone beds for paleontologists who study Ice Age mammals! The Cave Hyena would go extinct at the end of the Ice Age, about 11 thousand years ago. The exact cause of their extinction is unknown.