Proteles

{{Short description|Genus of mammal}}

{{Automatic taxobox

| fossil_range = Late Pliocene – Recent

(Possible Miocene record)

| image = Aardwolf ProtelesCristatus56.jpg

| image_caption = Aardwolf (Proteles cristatus)

| parent_authority = Saint-Hilaire, 1851

| taxon = Proteles

| authority = Saint-Hilaire, 1824

| type_species = Viverra cristata

| type_species_authority = Sparrman, 1783

| subdivision_ranks = Species

| subdivision =

• Proteles cristata
• †Proteles amplidentus

}}

Proteles is a genus of distinctive hyenas which contain the aardwolf (Proteles cristatus) and its close fossil relatives.{{cite book |last1=Kingdon |first1=Jonathan |title=Mammals of Africa: Volume V: Carnivores, Pangolins, Equids and Rhinoceroses |date=2014 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |isbn=9781408189948 |page=282}} It is the only extant genus of the subfamily Protelinae.

While the oldest fossils definitely belonging to Proteles date back to the Pliocene, material from the Miocene dating to around 10 million years ago has been suggested to belong to the genus, which would significantly increase its temporal range.{{cite book |title=Paleontology and Geology of Laetoli: Human Evolution in Context Volume 2: Fossil Hominins and the Associated Fauna |date=2011 |publisher=Springer Netherlands |isbn=9789048199624 |page=220}}

It has been suggested that the Proelinae subfamily may actually be an offshoot of the "running hyenas" (such as Lycyaena) who adapted to an insectivorous diet due to increased competition from canines and felines.{{cite journal |last1=Koepfli |first1=Klaus-Peter |title=Molecular systematics of the Hyaenidae: relationships of a relictual lineage resolved by a molecular supermatrix |journal=Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution |date=2006 |volume=38 |issue=3 |pages=603–620 |doi=10.1016/j.ympev.2005.10.017|pmid=16503281 }}