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nationalgeographic t1_j9los8s wrote

Reply to comment by IRMacGuyver in AskScience AMA Series: I'm Dr. Christine Wilkinson, National Geographic Explorer, carnivore ecologist, human-wildlife interactions specialist, and performer. Want to know why a coyote wanders through your city? What happens when hyenas chew your tires during research? How to get into SciComm? AMA! by AskScienceModerator

ooooh 1) I LOVE JURASSIC PARK. I'm literally wearing a Jurassic Park shirt right now.

  1. The last time I read that book was over a decade ago, but as I recall there was a big hunting scene? In that sense, yes spotted hyenas can and do hunt in groups (they can also hunt in pairs or solo), so that part was accurate. I think in the book they mentioned that the cubs ate first, or something, but that wouldn't be entirely accurate if we're talking spotted hyenas. Spotted hyenas have intricate social structures, which means that a cub could be ranked higher or lower than any given adult. So if you have the cub of an adult that is ranked lower than, say, the top female, then that cub is definitely not getting first dibs on the carcass. Rank order is critical for spotties, and you can usually determine their respective ranks by looking at how they behave toward each other.
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