RT Journal Article
T1 The giant hyena Pachycrocuta brevirostris: modelling the bone-cracking behavior of an extinct carnivore
A1 Palmqvist-Barrena, Carlos Paul
A1 Martínez-Navarro, Bienvenido
A1 Pérez-Claros, Juan Antonio
A1 Torregrosa, Vanessa
A1 Figueirido-Castillo, Francisco Borja
A1 Jiménez-Arenas, Juan Manuel
A1 Espigares-Ortiz, María Patrocinio
A1 Ros-Montoya, Sergio
A1 De Renzi, Miquel
K1 Paleobiología
K1 Pleistoceno
AB The giant hyena Pachycrocuta brevirostris was the largest bone-cracking carnivore that ever existed. With the mass of a lioness, it had massive limbs with shortened distal bones and a heavy, powerfully built mandible with robust, well-developed premolars. All these features reflect its adaptation for dismembering ungulate carcasses, transporting large pieces of them without dragging to the denning site and fracturing bones. This paper estimates the relative contribution of hunting and scavenging to the diet of this extinct hyena, using a combined biomechanical and taphonomic approach. Analysis of the bone-cracking behavior of P. brevirostris was based on the abundance of skeletal elements in the large mammals assemblage from Venta Micena (southeast Spain), a locality currently interpreted as an early Pleistocene hyena den. Results obtained showed that the bones with greater marrow contents (femur, humerus and tibia) were preferentially fractured by the hyenas, while those others with less nutritional value (radius and metapodials) were better represented as complete elements in the assemblage. Regression equations adjusted with modern carnivores for body size on craniodental and postcranial measurements provide an average estimate of mass of ~110 kg for the giant hyena. The high moment arms for masseter and temporalis muscles indicate a substantial strength for bone fracturing with the well developed premolar teeth. Jaw depth provided resistance against dorsoventral loads during bone-cracking activities. However, the moment arm of resistance for an object positioned at the canines reveals a loss of bite strength compared with spotted hyenas and thus less predatory abilities. These results are in agreement with the scavenging niche deduced for P. brevirostris from taphonomic analysis.
PB ELSEVIER
YR 2011
FD 2011
LK https://hdl.handle.net/10630/33571
UL https://hdl.handle.net/10630/33571
LA eng
NO Paul Palmqvist, Bienvenido Martínez-Navarro, Juan A. Pérez-Claros, Vanessa Torregrosa, Borja Figueirido, Juan Manuel Jiménez-Arenas, M. Patrocinio Espigares, Sergio Ros-Montoya, Miquel De Renzi, The giant hyena Pachycrocuta brevirostris: Modelling the bone-cracking behavior of an extinct carnivore, Quaternary International, Volume 243, Issue 1, 2011, Pages 61-79, ISSN 1040-6182, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2010.12.035
NO Este estudio se ha desarrollado en el marco de los Grupos de Investigación RNM-146 y HUM-607 (Junta de Andalucía) y ha sido financiado por los proyectos CGL2008-04896, CGL2009-08827, CGL2010-15326 y HAR2008-04577 (Ministerio de Ciencia).
DS RIUMA. Repositorio Institucional de la Universidad de Málaga
RD 19 ene 2026