Apropos the previous post on sex differences, a friend at work sent me a link to a video (right-click to save) depicting a violent clash between a pack of lions and a pack of hyenas over a wildebeest carcass the females of the pride had killed. During the course of the video the hyenas in larger numbers manage to steal the kill from the pride. Later in the video the dominant male lion kills the hyena matriarch and her successor. This clip is edited down from documentary footage.
You might be surprised to know that hyenas and lions differ greatly in social structure and biological morphology. Hyena society is female dominant. Physically, hyena females are larger than male hyenas (females in Kruuk’s East African clans averaged 120 pounds in body weight versus 107 pounds for males) and possess similar sex organs including a “peniform clitoris” and “false scrotum”. Detailed explanation here with illustrations. Lions on the other hand, possess a similar structure to other predatory pack mammals with an alpha male and lesser males and females.
