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!
They belong to their own family, the Hyaenidae, which also includes the aardwolf. This family is more closely related to cats than to dogs. The order Carnivora, to which the cat, dog and hyena families all belong, is divided into two branches, the Feliformia (cat-like) families, and the Caniformia (dog-like) families.