Ikelohyaena

{{Short description|Extinct genus of mammals}}

{{Automatic taxobox

| fossil_range = Pliocene (Ruscinian) ~5.2 Ma

| taxon = Ikelohyaena

| authority = Werdelin & Solounias, 1991

| type_species = {{extinct}}Ikelohyaena abronia

| type_species_authority = Hendey, 1974a

| synonyms = {{collapsible list|bullets=true|title=Species synonymy

|{{collapsible list|bullets=true|title=I. abronia:

|Hyaena abronia
{{small|Hendey, 1974a}}

|Hyaenictis preforfex
{{small|Hendey, 1974a}}

|Ictitherium preforfex
{{small|(Hendey, 1974a) Hendey, 1978}}

|Hyaenidae incertae sedis
{{small|Barry, ?1987}}

}}

}}

}}

Ikelohyaena (from Greek: ἴκελος íkelos, 'like' and Latin: hyaena, 'hyena') is an extinct genus of hyaenids that lived in Southern and Eastern Africa during the Pliocene. I. abronia, the type and only known species, has been found in Lothagam, Langebaanweg, and possibly Laetoli.{{Cite journal |last=Werdelin |first=Lars |last2=Solounias |first2=Nikos |date=1991 |title=The Hyaenidae: taxonomy, systematics, and evolution |journal=Fossils and Strata |volume=30 |pages=1-104 |doi=10.18261/8200374815-1991-01 |isbn=8200374815 |issn=0300-9491}} I. abronia was dated to approximately 5.2 million years ago.{{Cite journal |last=Hu |first=Jiaming |last2=Westbury |first2=Michael V. |last3=Yuan |first3=Junxia |last4=Zhang |first4=Zhen |last5=Chen |first5=Shungang |last6=Xiao |first6=Bo |last7=Hou |first7=Xindong |last8=Ji |first8=Hailong |last9=Lai |first9=Xulong |last10=Hofreiter |first10=Michael |last11=Sheng |first11=Guilian |date=2021 |title=Ancient mitochondrial genomes from Chinese cave hyenas provide insights into the evolutionary history of the genus Crocuta |journal=Proceedings of the Royal Society B |issue=288 |pages=20202934 |doi=10.1098/rspb.2020.2934}}

Ikelohyaena is regarded by some authors as a possible but highly skeptical common ancestor of the modern striped hyenas and brown hyenas or as an early species of the lineage that lead to the striped hyena. Ikelohyaena had durophagous adaptations in its dentition but was less well-adapted to durophagy than modern durophagous hyaenids such as the striped hyena.{{Cite journal |last=Pérez-Claros |first=Juan Antonio |date=2024 |title=Unravelling the origin of the brown hyena (Parahyena brunnea) and its evolutionary and paleoecological implications for the Pachycrocuta lineage |journal=Palaeontologia Electronica |pages=27.1.a18 |doi=10.26879/1372}} Dental microwear analysis indicates that I. abronia consumed bone less frequently than modern durophagous hyaenids.{{Cite journal |last=Stynder |first=Deano D. |last2=Ungar |first2=Peter S. |last3=Scott |first3=Jessica R. |last4=Schubert |first4=Blaine W |date=2011 |title=A Dental Microwear Texture Analysis of the Mio-Pliocene Hyaenids from Langebaanweg, South Africa |journal=Acta Palaeontologica Polonica |volume=57 |issue=3 |pages=485-496 |doi=10.4202/app.2011.0053}}