Interesting. Acoustic information really is becoming a crowded area in animal behaviour nowadays. We're seeing it a lot in the world of dogs too, obviously, with dog barks and now growls being decoded to show they are constructed from different particles of sound, to form a referential acoustic signal. Exciting!

This is familydogproject is great for up-to-date research on dog acoustic communication, as well as many other aspects of behaviour.

Can I just point out one thing, just because I'm a nerd, hyenas aren't dogs, and aren't direct relatives, they're a bit of an anomaly in the same way as the closest relative to an elephant is a rock hyrax

Yes, an elephant and rock hyrax are closely related.

Hyenas come from the Hyaenidae family, which are more closely related to felines. However, I love animal behaviour, so find it very interesting!

Me too, but I would hate for anyone to think that hyena's are closely related to dogs, when in fact they're more closely related to cats.

I've been lucky enough to see spotted hyena in the wild, including a cub, incredibly interesting and amazing animals. Anyone wanting a bit more insight, just google 'Lions and hyenas, eternal enemies' and it will bring up a fascinating documentary that highlights some of the characteristics of spotted hyenas..... and now I really do sound like a nerd

very true - but we are here examining behavior, not DNA
hyenas exhibit a lot of canid-type behaviors - they act more like dogs than cats.

I hate to say this Terry, but they really don't behave anything like dogs. They are really quite unique, females have a false penis, which they use in mating like rituals, males are subordinate completely, and cubs are subject to the cain and abel syndrome. They're nothing like dogs in any way shape or form

The only similarity you could draw is that they hunt in 'packs', but that's about it really.

i am AWARE of their mating behavior; also the heritability of status, penile display by subordinates, etc.
we are not discussing mating, active-submission, etc.
i'm not going to list their canid-like behaviors; if folks are interested, they can check out info on hyenas,
spotted or brown.

No, but we are hopefully not leading people into beliving they behave like dogs, because they simply don't

I can't think of one canid like behaviour they display off the top of my head, even the way they hunt is different!

Another good documentary to google to find out the behaviour of hyenas, but be prepared for graphic footage, is 'Patterns in the grass', which is primarily about Zebras, but shows predation across the linyanti, which includes hyenas.

Is that the doc about the lion labelled the 'hyena killer' or something?

I, too, have been lucky enough to see a hyena in the wild (near Kruger) but only briefly. Also saw a black-backed jackal on the same day! I am qualified to field guide over in South Africa