Ictitherium

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Ictitherium
Fossil range: Mid Miocene to Early Pliocene

Fossil

Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Carnivora
Family:	Hyaenidae
Genus:	†Ictitherium

Species

I. viverrinum
I. syvalense
?I. arambourgi
?I. gaudryi
?I. hipparionum
?I. orbingyi
?I. sinence
?I. preforfex

Skull of Ictitherium viverrinum
"American Museum of Natural History" in New York

Ictitherium is an extinct genus of hyena.

The 1.20 m (4 ft) long creature looked more like a civet than a hyena, possessing a long body with short legs. Judging from its teeth, it was an insectivore. Ictitherium was a very successful and numerous creature, often turning up in mass graves caused by floods. Possibly, this early hyena lived in packs and had a social order, much like its modern descendants.