 In his own 1812 account, Cuvier mentioned a number of European localities where cave hyena remains were found, and considered it a different species from the spotted hyena on account of its superior size.He elaborated his view in his "Ossemens Fossiles" (1823), noting how the cave hyena's digital extremities were shorter and thicker than those of the spotted hyena.His views were largely accepted throughout the first half of the 19th century, finding support in de Blainville and Richard Owen among others.