Crocuta crocuta (Erxleben 1777)

[Canis] crocuta Erxleben 1777, Systema Regni Animalis, Vol. 1: 578.

Type Locality: " Guinea, Aethiopia, ad caput bonae spei in terrae rupiumque caueis", restricted by Cabrera (1911:95) to "Senegambia".

Vernacular Names: Spotted Hyena.

Synonyms: Crocuta capensis (Desmarest 1817); Crocuta cuvieri (Boitard 1842); Crocuta fisi Heller 1914; Crocuta fortis J. A. Allen 1924; Crocuta gariepensis (Matschie 1900); Crocuta germinans (Matschie 1900); Crocuta habessynica (de Blainville 1844); Crocuta kibonotensis (Lönnberg 1908); Crocuta leontiewi (Satunin 1905); Crocuta maculata (Thunberg 1811); Crocuta noltei (Matschie 1900); Crocuta nyasae Cabrera 1911; Crocuta nzoyae Cabrera 1911; Crocuta panganensis (Lönnberg 1908); Crocuta rufa (Desmarest 1817); Crocuta rufopicta Cabrera 1911; Crocuta sivalensis (Falconer and Cautley in Falconer 1868); Crocuta thierryi (Matschie 1900); Crocuta thomasi Cabrera 1911; Crocuta togoensis (Matschie 1900); Crocuta wissmanni (Matschie 1900) .

Distribution: Angola, Botswana, Cameroon, Dem. Rep. Congo, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Guinea, Kenya, Malawi, Mauritania, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe.

Conservation: IUCN – Lower Risk (cd).

Discussion: Revised by Matthews (1939a, b). Synonyms according to Matthews (1939 a) and Jenks and Werdelin (1998) who demonstrated that subspecies are not justified.