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| As Daniyar Khantemirov explained, the bones, teeth and coprolites belonged to hyenas of different ages. Photo Credit: Alexander Rodimushkin |
Scientific Frontline: Extended "At a Glance" Summary: Late Pleistocene Cave Hyenas of the Urals
The Core Concept: During the Late Pleistocene, ancient cave hyenas (Crocuta spelaea) in the Ural region actively hunted and consumed large herbivores, including bison, giant deer, and woolly rhinoceroses, rather than exclusively scavenging remains left by other predators.
Key Distinction/Mechanism: Unlike their European counterparts, Ural cave hyenas exhibited a higher degree of morphological specialization for bone-crushing and hunting, possessing significantly longer teeth. Additionally, these predators taught their young to process meat and bone from an early age, with one-year-old cubs displaying the same dietary consumption patterns as adults.
Origin/History: These findings emerged from the recent discovery of the Tip-Tugai cave in the Bashkiria National Park, which serves as the first unequivocally described cave hyena den in the Ural region, dating back approximately 130,000 to 11,000 years ago to a period characterized by a severe glacial climate.
Major Frameworks/Components:
- Faunal Assemblage Analysis: Examination of a large concentration of mammalian remains, with approximately 33% identified as Crocuta spelaea bones, teeth, and coprolites across various age groups.
- Dental Microrelief Evaluation: Analysis of tooth wear and micro-abrasions to determine age-specific dietary habits and infer complex social stratifications within the clan.
- Taphonomic Indicators: Identification of gnaw marks on large herbivore bones and evidence of cannibalism found on hyena lower jaws.
Branch of Science: Paleontology, Paleoecology, and Zoology (Mammalogy).
Future Application: The extensive fossil record from the Tip-Tugai cave will provide a critical baseline for modeling Pleistocene predator-prey dynamics, understanding deep behavioral adaptations to glacial climates, and tracking the morphological evolution of large carnivores in extreme environments.
Why It Matters: This research fundamentally alters the ecological profile of ancient hyenas in the Urals, proving they were formidable, highly social apex predators capable of active hunting and complex cub-rearing behaviors, rather than mere opportunistic scavengers.
Russian paleontologists have discovered that ancient hyenas living in the Urals during the late Pleistocene, approximately 130,000 years ago, fed on bison, giant deer, and woolly rhinoceroses. According to the researchers, these hyenas not only scavenged the remains of prey from other predators but also hunted large herbivores on their own. They taught this behavior to their cubs, who consumed meat and gnawed bones alongside adults by one year of age. A research team consisting of specialists from the Ural Federal University (UrFU) and the Institute of Plant and Animal Ecology of the Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences (UB RAS) described these and other dietary features of the ancient predators in the journal Quaternary Research.
“Over the years of research, dozens of cave hyena dens have been discovered in Europe. Only a few hyena dens have been unequivocally described in Russia, and none have been described from the Urals. My colleagues and I were able to discover and describe such a den for the first time—the Tip-Tugai Cave in Bashkiria National Park. In this cave, we found a large number of large mammal remains, approximately 33 percent of which belonged to the cave hyena, Crocuta spelaea. The hyena remains—bones, teeth, and coprolites—belonged to individuals of various ages, ranging from two-month-old cubs to mature individuals over sixteen years old. Most belonged to young predators under one year of age,” says Daniyar Khantemirov, a researcher at the UrFU Laboratory of Natural Science Methods in Humanities and the UB RAS Institute of Plant and Animal Ecology.
According to scientists, cave hyenas are considered one of the primary accumulators of bones in Late Pleistocene cave sites. This is largely because the hyenas used caves as dens. Specifically, the Tip-Tugai Cave served as a communal den where the predators brought parts of large herbivore carcasses; a section of the cave was likely used by females to give birth and raise cubs.
In addition to the hyena remains, scientists found the bones of bison, giant deer, and woolly rhinoceroses bearing gnaw marks. Furthermore, the Ural predators, unlike their European relatives, were highly adapted to bone-crushing and hunting. The teeth of Ural hyenas are longer than those found in European caves. One recovered tooth was larger than all previously known similar specimens, indicating a high degree of predatory specialization.
“In particular, the analysis showed that one-year-old individuals, like adult hyenas, consumed both bone and meat. The cubs also ‘played,’ imitating prey capture. In addition, differences in the microrelief of teeth among various individuals suggested the presence of social stratification within the clan. Finally, the lower jaws of the hyenas indicate instances of cannibalism,” Khantemirov adds.
The UrFU Laboratory of Natural Science Methods in Humanities was established with the support of the Priority 2030 program.
During the Early Pleistocene, the paleofauna underwent major changes as many new groups of large mammals appeared in Europe, including horned antelopes, muskoxen (large Soergelia), unusual Canis falconeri canids, and the Etruscan wolf. During this period, the largest giant hyenas in Earth’s history—the bone-crushing Pachycrocuta—also emerged.
Giant hyenas inhabited the Urals during the Late Pleistocene (approximately 130,000 to 11,000 years ago), a period characterized by a severe glacial climate and the presence of mammoths, woolly rhinoceroses, and reindeer. The regional landscape consisted of cold, open steppes and tundra-steppes, while the mountain peaks were covered with glaciers.
Published in journal: Quaternary Research
Authors: Daniyar Khantemirov, Dmitriy O. Gimranov, Tatiana V. Strukova, Maria S. Tarasova, Maria P. Maslintsina, Victoria I. Pryakhina, Andrey N. Ivanchenko, Maria V. Pavlova, Dmitriy A. Zakharov, Arseniy V. Babaytsev, Mikhail P. Tiunov, Tariyel M. Eybatov, Anton V. Kisagulov, Lilia A. Sultangareeva, Valeria A. Makutina, Qigao Jiangzuo, Anton V. Kochnev, and Pavel A. Kosintsev
Source/Credit: Ural Federal University | Delfina Zakharova
Edited by: Scientific Frontline
Reference Number: pal082426_01