Thick-billed Euphonia (Euphonia laniirostris). In: del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A., Sargatal, J., Christie, D.A. & de Juana, E. (eds.). Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive.
No dogs here! Hyenas are not members of the dog or cat families. Instead, they are so unique that they have a family all their own, Hyaenidae. There are four members of the Hyaenidae family: the striped hyena, the âgigglyâ spotted hyena, the brown hyena, and the aardwolf (itâs a hyena, not a wolf). These magnificent animals are sometimes called the scourge of the Serengeti, but they play an important role: cleanup crew!
The families Hyaenidae and Felidae, the cat family, both belong to the Feliformia suborder, along with civets and mongooses, whilst the dog family, Canidae, belongs to the Caniformia suborder. Caitofga is mistaken in saying hyenas are closely related to ferrets or weasels. These animals belong to the family Mustelidae, which is part of the Caniformia suborder. Hyenas are no more closely related to this family than they are to the dog family. Source(s): I used to be a zookeeper and have studied animals all my life.