Adcrocuta

{{Short description|Extinct genus of carnivores}}

{{Automatic Taxobox

| fossil_range = {{Fossil range|late Miocene}}

| image = Adcrocuta eximia, Asenovgrad.JPG

| image_caption = Skeleton

| taxon = Adcrocuta

| authority = Kretzoi, 1938

| subdivision_ranks = Species

| subdivision = A. eximia

}}

File:Adcrocuta NNHM.jpg]]

Adcrocuta is an extinct genus of large hyena that lived in Africa and Eurasia during the late Miocene epoch.{{Cite journal | last1 = Werdelin | first1 = L. | last2 = Solounias | first2 = N. | doi = 10.1111/j.1096-3642.1990.tb01206.x | title = Studies of fossil hyaenids: The genus Adcrocuta Kretzoi and the interrelationships of some hyaenid taxa | journal = Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society | volume = 98 | issue = 4 | pages = 363 | year = 1990 }}

Distribution and chronology

Fossils of A. eximia are known from across Eurasia during the Vallesian-Turolian age of the Late Miocene (around 9.6-4.9 million years agoVíctor Vinuesa Joan Madurell-Malapeira, Josep Fortuny & David M. Alba "[https://www.researchgate.net/publication/319352529_Endocranial_morphology_of_the_Late_Miocene_bone-cracking_hyena_Adcrocuta_eximia_Carnivora_Hyaenidae_compared_with_extant_hyenas Endocranial morphology of the Late Miocene bone-cracking hyena Adcrocuta eximia (Carnivora, Hyaenidae) compared with extant hyenas]" XII ENCUENTRO DE JÓVENES INVESTIGADORES EN PALENTOLOGÍA (BOLTAÑA, 2014)), spanning from Europe, including Spain, North Macedonia, France, Romania, Greece, Hungary, Germany, Austria, Ukraine and Bulgaria,{{Cite journal |last=Kovachev |first=Dimitar |date=December 2012 |title=A complete skeleton of Adcrocuta eximia (Roth and Wagner, 1854) from the Upper Maeotian (Turolian) of Hadzhidimovo, SW Bulgaria |url=https://www.geologica-balcanica.eu/sites/default/files/sites/defauld/files/articles/0324-0894_v41_i1-3_p077.pdf |journal=Geologica Balcanica |volume=41 |issue=1–3 |pages=77–95 |doi=10.52321/GeolBalc.41.1-3.77 |access-date=6 November 2024}} and Asia including Turkey,{{Cite journal |last=De Bonis |first=Louis |date=31 December 2005 |title=Carnivora (Mammalia) from the late Miocene of Akkașdağı, Turkey |url=https://sciencepress.mnhn.fr/en/periodiques/geodiversitas/27/4/carnivora-mammalia-du-miocene-superieur-d-akkasdagi-turquie#:~:text=Volcanic%20ashes%20in%20Akka%C8%99da%C4%9F%C4%B1%20(Turkey,from%20the%20Greek%20locality%20Pikermi. |journal=Geodiversitas |language=en |volume=27 |issue=4 |pages=567–590 |access-date=15 November 2024}}{{Cite journal |last1=Sen |first1=Sevket |last2=Saraç |first2=Gerçek |date=December 2018 |title=Hyaenidae (Carnivora, Mammalia) from late Miocene and Pliocene of Çalta (Ankara, Turkey) |url=https://hal.science/hal-03893072/ |journal=Revue de Paléobiologie |access-date=15 November 2024}} Kyrgyzstan,{{Cite journal |last1=Miller |first1=Sophie |last2=Barrett |first2=Paul |last3=McLaughlin |first3=Win |last4=Hopkins |first4=Samantha |date=29 August 2020 |title=Endemism and migration in the Kochkor Basin? Identification and description of Adcrocuta eximia (Mammalia: Carnivora: Hyaenidae) and c.f. Paramachaerodus (Mammalia: Carnivora: Felidae) fossils at the Miocene locality of Ortok, Kyrgyzstan |url=https://palaeo-electronica.org/content/2020/3156-ortok-carnivores |journal=Palaeontologia Electronica |doi=10.26879/1033 |access-date=3 November 2024|doi-access=free }} Kazkahstan, Iran, China, Tajikistan, Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Description

Adcrocuta was comparable in size to a living spotted hyena,{{Cite web |last=Antón |first=Mauricio |author-link=Mauricio Antón |date=2016-01-12 |title=SABERTOOTH’S BANE: INTRODUCING DINOCROCUTA |url=https://chasingsabretooths.wordpress.com/2016/01/12/sabertooths-bane-introducing-dinocrocuta/#:~:text=There%20was%20one%20monstrous%20carnivore,zoological%20family%20as%20modern%20hyenas. |access-date=2025-01-12 |website=chasing sabretooths |language=en}} with a body mass of around {{Convert|30-100|kg}}.Nagel, D. & Koufos, G.D., 2009. The Late Miocene Mammal Faunas of the M ytilinii Basin, Samos Island, Greece: New Collection. 15. Carnivore Guild Structure. — Beitr. Palaont., 31:391-396, Wien.

Palaeoecology

Like the modern day spotted hyena, A. eximia was an obligate carnivore.{{Cite journal |last1=Rivals |first1=Florent |last2=Belyaev |first2=Ruslan I. |last3=Basova |first3=Vera B. |last4=Prilepskaya |first4=Natalya E. |date=15 May 2024 |title=A tale from the Neogene savanna: Paleoecology of the hipparion fauna in the northern Black Sea region during the late Miocene |journal=Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology |language=en |volume=642 |pages=112133 |doi=10.1016/j.palaeo.2024.112133 |doi-access=free}} The teeth display adaptations to bone cracking, making it one of the earliest hyenas to display evidence of being adapted to this activity, though the shape of the upper carnassial tooth suggests that flesh also probably formed a considerable part of its diet.{{Cite journal |last1=Turner |first1=Alan |last2=Antón |first2=Mauricio |last3=Werdelin |first3=Lars |date=September 2008 |title=Taxonomy and evolutionary patterns in the fossil Hyaenidae of Europe |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0016699508000533 |journal=Geobios |language=en |volume=41 |issue=5 |pages=677–687 |doi=10.1016/j.geobios.2008.01.001}} Its body was powerfully built. Some authors have suggested that it was likely not a fast runner, and that it was primarily a scavenger though this has been disputed by other authors, who note its limb bones are no more robust than those of living spotted hyenas. Its considerable size, which made it by a large margin the largest hyena in late Miocene Eurasia, likely made it effective both in kleptoparasitism (stealing kills from other carnivores), as well as predating on medium-large sized prey. Based on the morphology of its brain cavity, it probably had a less sophisticated social system than modern bone-cracking spotted hyenas.

References