Diet and ecological niches of the Late Pleistocene hyenas Crocuta spelaea and C. ultima ussurica based on a study of tooth microwear

Extinct hyenas of the genus Crocuta were typical representatives of the Late Pleistocene mammoth fauna of Eurasia. The geographical distribution of these animals was vast, stretching from the British Isles to the Pacific coast. In this paper, we studied the tooth microwear of Crocuta spelaea from the Prolom 2 grotto in Crimea and the Bukhtarminskaya Cave in eastern Kazakhstan, and C. ultima ussurica from the Geographical Society Cave in the Russian Far East, to provide a comparative analysis of the feeding habits of these two species and to test for ecological differences. We also tested for ontogenic differences in diet through a comparison of juvenile and adult individuals. Our findings show that the microwear patterns of these Late Pleistocene hyenas resemble those of extant spotted hyenas ( C. crocuta ) but differ from those of extant stripped ( Hyaena hyaena ) and brown hyenas ( Parahyaena brunnea ). However, we noted that the number of scratches in the C. ultima ussurica specimens exceeded the variability observed in extant spotted hyenas and instead more closely resembled the microwear signal of typical predators (e.g., lions). Adults and juveniles exhibited similar microwear patterns in terms of the quantity of pits and scratches; however, most juveniles lacked cross scratches, as also observed in most individuals from Prolom 2. This pattern could be related to a higher proportion of meat in the diet of juveniles, without excluding the consumption of bones. Our tooth microwear analysis improves the knowledge of the paleobiology of extinct representatives of the genus Crocuta . • First tooth enamel microwear study to evaluate the paleodiet of the cave hyena • Similar diets in the three populations of hyenas from Eastern Europe and Eastern Asia • Overall similarity to the diet known for the extant spotted hyena • Ontogenic differences between the adults and the juveniles • Microwear patterns show relevant inter-specific and intra-specific differences.