Cave hyena

An unidentified bone fragment of a cave hyena found in Smerdon’s Passage of Kents Cavern and donated by the British Association for Advancement of Science committee. Cave hyena are extinct relatives of the modern African spotted hyena, and display adaptations for life in glacial periods of earth history such as stockier limbs and larger size. The cave hyena lived throughout the Pleistocene epoch, surviving four glacial and three interglacial periods. A jaw fragment of a modern human has also been found in Kents Cavern; humans and hyenas may have been in competition for this cave as a home. Pengelly number 3659a, Locality: Smerdon’s Passage, Series: 32, Parallel: 15, Level: 2, Yard: 1L, Deposit: unk. date 13/01/1871.