Hyena and relatives

[epaiva]

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Skull and reconstructed head of the giant percrocutid Dinocrocuta gigantea
Members of the genus Dinocrocuta are known from fragmentary remains in Europe but from the late Miocene in China complete skulls have been found, showing that although these percrocutids had paralleled true hyaenids to a remarkable degree their skull morphology was rather unique. The cranium was very robust, with powerful zygomatic arches and strongly domed forehead, and the teeth, especially the premolars, were proportionally enormous.
Total length of skull 40 cm. Reply