• Question: How come a hyena looks like a dog but is in the cat species??????????

    Asked by crazyfool to Aime, Akshat, Diana, Gemma, Judith on 23 Jun 2011.
    • Photo: Gemma Sharp

      Gemma Sharp answered on 17 Jun 2011:

      Taxonomy (the name given to the field of science that classifies orgnanisms into different categories) is based on the number of genes different species share, and how many similar traits they have, not necessarily how much they look alike,

      Hyenas are part of a group of animals called ‘feliformia’ (cat like) which is a suborder of carnivora (carnivores). ‘Caniformia’ (dog-like) is also a suborder of carnivora, but the hyena is more closely related to cat-like species than to dog-like species, so it appears in feliformia.

      I know what you’re saying about them looking more like dogs, but some species do look sort of like cats, like this one: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spotted_Hyena

    • Photo: Judith McCann

      Judith McCann answered on 20 Jun 2011:

      I always thought they looked like cats!? well sounds sort of cat-ish. It’s about the number of chromosomes, as well as the amount of genetic material the different species share!

    • Photo: Akshat Rathi

      Akshat Rathi answered on 23 Jun 2011:

      I never actually thought that a hyena is a species of cat. And only if I have to push my imagination would I think that they look like a dog.

      Thanks for the question

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