The first find of the cave hyena (Crocuta crocuta spelea) on the Oka plateau (Eastern Sayan)

Abstract

These data indicate that the last representatives of Hyaenidae on the Oka plateau, i.e., cave hyenas (C. c. spelaea), are direct descendants of the hyenas that lived in the Altai–Sayan and Baikal mountain country from the Late Miocene to the end of the Pleistocene. Their continued existence over a long time undoubtedly indicates the absence of repeated glaciation during the Pleistocene. Cave hyenas are relics of the late Tertiary fauna in the area of Lake Baikal; they became extinct due to gradual cooling, which peaked at the end of the Late Pleistocene.