7.45" Fossil Cave Hyena (Crocuta crocuta spelaea) Mandible - Siberia

The cave hyena (Crocuta crocuta spelaea), also known as the Ice Age spotted hyena, was a paleo-subspecies of spotted hyena in Eurasia, which ranged from the Iberian Peninsula to eastern Siberia. They have been estimated to have weighed up to 102 kg and preyed on large mammals, primarily wild horses, steppe bison, and woolly rhinoceros. Their consumption of these mammals are responsible for the accumulation of hundreds of large Pleistocene mammal bones in areas including horizontal caves, sinkholes, mud pits, and muddy areas along rivers. Little is known regarding their social habits. Their use of caves as dens is widely accepted, although sites in open areas are also known. Indications of whether cave hyenas lived in large clans or on a more solitary basis is lacking, though large clans are not considered likely in their Pleistocene habitat.