cats. Pachycrocuta scavenged for food, probably preferentially so, because it was a heavyset animal not built for chasing prey over long distances. In this respect it would have differed from the spotted hyena of today, which is a more nimble animal that, contrary to its image as a scavenger, usually kills its own food, but often gets displaced by lions. Apparently it was ecologically close enough to its smaller (but still large) relative Pliocrocuta perrieri that they are never found as contemporary fossils in the same region. Research by anthropologists Noel Boaz and Russell Ciochon on remains of Homo erectus unearthed alongside Pachycrocuta at the Zhoukoudian site attributed scoring and puncture patterns observed on hominin long bones and skulls—originally thought to be signs of cannibalism—to predation by Pachycrocuta. It has been proposed that Pachycrocuta was outcompeted and driven to extinction by the spotted hyena, which was formerly present in Eurasia as well as Africa. Other predators, such as lions, cave lions, tigers, and wolves, could have put pressure on Pachycrocuta. See also Cave hyena (Crocuta crocuta spelaea) Notes References Raoul J. Mutter, Lee R. Berger, Peter Schmid. 2001. New evidence of the giant hyena, Pachycrocuta brevirostris (Carnivora, Hyaenidaae), from the Gladyslave cave deposit (Plio-Pleistocene, John Nash Nature Reserve, Gauteng, South Africa). Palaeont. afr., 37, 103-113 Prehistoric hyenas Pliocene carnivorans Pleistocene carnivorans Pleistocene genus extinctions Cenozoic mammals of Africa Fossils of China Cenozoic mammals of Asia Cenozoic mammals of Europe Prehistoric carnivoran genera Pliocene first appearances