Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 10.djvu/448

* HYDBOZOA. 388 HYENA. frosli-wnter forms nre Protoliyilra and ^fioro- hydrn. which nre without tonlacles. The Ilydrozna arc provipc|)hyte or polyp stage, and the sense orj^ans exclusively cctodernial (An- thomedusa? and Leptoniedusie) ; (:i( Tinrhylina-, having uo fixed zoophyte stage, all being loco- motive niedusie (Tracliy medusa' suul Narconie- dusa") ; (3) lli/dracoralliiin, coral-making polyps (Millepora and Stylastcr) : (4) •Siplionoiihora, pelagic hydrozoans in [lolyniorphic colonies; (5) (Iraplolilhoidt'd, an extim-t Paleozoic group, re- lated to (0) the Ilydruiiuddsir. The Hydrome- dusic are a very heterogeneous assemblage of jiolyp and medusa forms, arranged in several families. In some species we tind only hydroids, in others only medusa'; but in many the hydroids and medusiv are alternate generations of a com- mon stock. Of the orders above mentioned, the llydro- corallina and Graptolithoidea arc of importance to the geologist, for they contain fossils of con- siderable interest. (See 8tromatopora, and Ci R.MTOLITE. ) Fassil representatives of the Scyphomedusip are rare, but have been described from Cambrian, Jurassic, and other formations. Consult: Parker and llaswell, TcxIHool; of Zoology (London and New York, 1S'.>7) ; Huxley, The Orninic llydrn-oa (London, ISoiM : Fowler, "The Hydromedusidie and the .Scyphomedusida?," in Laiikcster's Treatise on '/Aiiiltiyy. ])art ii. (Lon- don. lliOO). See Coral; Ctenoi'iiora ; Hydra; Hydroid; Jellyfish; Medus.e; Polyp; Si- PHO.NOPHORA ; etc. HYENA, hl-e'ni (Lat. hymna, from Gk. vatva, hytiinii, hyena, from Cr, hys, hog, Lat. mis, AS., OHO. sii, (icr. Suit. Eng. snir, A. hit, pig: con- nected either with Skt. sS, to bear, or with Skt. siitara,. swine. .'Jii.makcr.so called from the grunt). One of a family (Hya>nidir) of carnivorous ani- mals remarkable for their generalized structure, which unites features characteristic of the cats, the civets, and the dogs. Their dentition is cal- DENTITION OF BVENA. 1, Incisors; c, canine; p, premolars; m, molars. culated for great tearing and crushing power, and includes si.x incisors and two canine teeth in each jaw. five molars on each side of the upper jaw, and four in the under. This dentition and other features place them between the dogs and the civets, with the latter of which they arc con- nected by Pniteles. (See Aard-Wolf. ) They .seize an object with so firm a hold that among .rabs they are proverbial for obstinacy. The vertebne of the neck sometimes become anchylosed in old hyenas. In size they equal the largest dogs. The hind quarters are lower and weaker than the fore quarters of the body, so that hyenas move with a shambling gait. The body is covered with long coarse hair, forming a mane along the neck and back. The feet have each four toes. The claws are strong, fit for digging, and not retractile. The tail is short. Beneath the anus is a deep glandular pouch, contributing much to the offensive odor which is one of their many disagreeable characteristics. Hyenns eat carrion as well as newly killed prey, and are of much use, like vultures, as scavengers, clear- ing away the last remnants of carcasses. They .sometimes attack cattle, especially if they flee, but rarely man, though they sometimes seize children. Selous gives surprising instances of their boldness and strength in Kast Africa. Dur- ing the day they hide themselves in caves, old riK-k tiind)s, and ruined edifices; by night they roam singly or in packs. They prowl about towns and villages, and often dig up corp.ses that have not been diiqjly burie<l. This, together with their asjx'ct and nuimiers, has caused them to be gen- erally regarded with horror, and very exaggerated accounts of their fierceness have been prevalent. Instead of being untamable, a.s was long the popular belief, they are capable of being com- pletely tamed, and show an attachment to man similar to that of the dog; they have even been used .as watchdogs. Hyenas are found only in Africa and in South-central Asia. The most typical and at the same time familiar form is the striped hyena (llyivnii striiiln). which ranges from .Xbyssinia and the Libyan Desert east- ward to India, where it is common throughout all the more open country, roaming widely at night in search of carrion, or living sheep and dogs. It is dirty gray, with narrow tawny or zebra-like stripes, a coarse mane along the back, and a bushy tail. It is cowardly, silent, and both hated and feared by the rural people. Two other spe- cies are exclusively .African, and differ much from the striped, so that some naturalists ]>ut them in another genus (Crocuta). The spotted hyena ilh/initi eroviila) is larger than either the striped or the brown, and is yellowish, thickly spott<'d with black, with nose ami feet dark. It inhabits nearly all .friea south of the Sahara, hunts in packs, is courageous, ahd really does most of the ravaging it is accused of. Its un- earthly coughing cry is one of the most terrify- ing of animal utterances. Owing to the peculiar arrangement of the reproductive organs in this .species, it is extremely (lifiicult. except by care- ful examination, to distinguish the sexes by external characters, and from this fact the old myth that hyenas are hermaphrodites has doubt- less arisen. ' Median in size stands the brown hyena (Bywnn bninnea), found on both sides of south- ern .friea near the coast, and often on the moun- tains. It is a less repulsive looking animal than the others; has a dog-like mantle of long brown hair which half conceals its barred legs, and be- comes white on the sides of the head and chest, giving a quaint apjiearance to the front view, since the face itself is black, while the tall ears are gray. The hyena family, of comparatively recent ori- gin, appears to have evolved from the Viverrida-, through such intermediate genus as Ictithcrium of the Lower Pliocene of .Southern Europe. That Ictithcrium ate bones in the same manner as do the modern hyenas has been proved by the na- ture of the eoprolites found associated with their skeletons. True hvenas are common fossils in the Pliocene and Pleistocene deposits of Europe, during which periods they roamed in .ibundanee as far north as France and England, as is ex- hibited by their remains in cave floors; and they are known in deposits of similar age in Asia. None have been found in America.