Leaf's Art

I see a lot of lovely anthro art that is ostensibly of hyenas, but is stylized a lot more after canines.

This is understandable. Most people assume, from the roughly similar appearance and behavior, that hyenas are some sort of caniform. This assumption leads to some unfortunate problems.

There’s an awful lot of hyena art that ends up just being spotted dogs.

Hyenas are actually a feliform carnivore in their own distinct family. And they have some very unique anatomy that, unfortunately, tends to be lost when building from the canine assumption. This is the most noticeable when it comes to spotted hyenas, who have the most distinct look of the four extant species. And which this primer will focus on.

This primer is in part inspired this excellent reference guide by Kenket, and from my own adoration of these weird, beautiful animals. And my desire to see their funky anatomy be better appreciated.

You don’t want your hyena to look like a canine. You want her to look like a hyena. And I reckon there’s three major shapes that make a hyena Hyena shaped.