The most noticeable differences between aardwolves and hyenas are in the skull and dentition as aardwolves have much slender skulls with small teeth.
The most noticeable differences between aardwolves and hyenas are in the skull and dentition as aardwolves have much slender skulls with small teeth.
Whereas hyenas have a powerful dentition and are able to crush large bones, the aardwolf has a slender skull with strong jaws and canine teeth, but the cheekteeth are reduced to small, widely spaced and irregularly numbered redundant pegs.
It is most likely a result of aggressive territorial disputes that aardwolves have retained disproportionately strong jaws and skull. The zygomatic arches are broad and heavily built, suggesting well-developed masseter muscles and a powerful jaw action.
• Image | © Craig Lymm, Some Rights Reserved (CC BY-ND 2.0)
• Sources | (Kingdon, 1977; Richardson & Bearder, 1984; Skinner & Smithers, 1990; Wikipedia, 2017)
