Spotted, striped or brown? Taphonomic studies at dens of extant hyaenas in eastern and southern Africa

We compare taphonomically relevant aspects of 6 bone accumulations produced by extant spotted hyaenas Crocuta crocuta, striped hyaenas Hyaena hyaena, and brown hyaenas Parahyaena brunnea) from eastern and southern Africa (Republic of Djibouti and Namibia) and published accounts. We highlight similarities and differences in the bone-cracking/consumption and bone collecting habits of each hyaena species with a view to revealing criteria that might be used to distinguish these species. Four parameters are described: i) the prey taken and preferences, ii) the skeletal part distribution, iii) the long bone fragmentation, iv) the tooth mark diversity and frequency. Information from hyaena ecology and the ungulate remains recovered from each bone accumulation reveals differences (or a lack thereof) related to environment, anthropogenic pressure and ethology. Spotted hyaena hunting strategy and clan size suggest a low degree of inter-group competition, but high levels of intra-group on-carcass competition; fewer osteological remains are brought back to dens. In contrast, striped and brown hyaenas are primarily scavengers (removing carcass remnants) and produce significant accumulations of bones at their dens. These differences are likely to be related mainly to inter-specific competition and serve to reduce interaction with other carnivores and to limit kleptoparasitism; the composition of accumulations at dens is determined by food availability and foraging behaviour to a greater or lesser degree. Modern analogues are essential baseline tools for elucidating characteristics that might distinguish each species. The development of neo-taphonomic models is the first step towards comparison and greater understanding of the palaeo-ethology of extinct Pleistocene hyaenids.