Chasmaporthetes fossil map
Where fossils of Chasmaporthetes have been found, shown on the Earth as it looked about 5 million years ago and on today’s map.
Dots are fossil collections recorded in the Paleobiology Database. The “then” view moves today’s fossil sites back to their positions 5 million years ago (the time slice nearest the median age of the fossils) using the Merdith et al. (2021) plate model; positions are approximate. Open on the timeline map →
| Group | Early mammals |
|---|---|
| Lived | 8.725–0.0117 million years ago (Tortonian to Late Pleistocene) |
| Periods | Neogene, Quaternary |
| Family | Hyaenidae |
| Named by | Hay 1921 |
| Fossil records | 116 occurrences at 49 locations (PBDB) |
| Found in | South Africa, United States, China, France, Spain, Mexico, Greece, Italy, Tajikistan, Ethiopia … |
| Rock formations | txn:41020, Swartkrans, Sterkfontein, Zanda, Varswater, St. David |
About Chasmaporthetes
Chasmaporthetes, also known as hunting or running hyena, is an extinct genus of hyenas distributed in Eurasia, North America, and Africa during the Pliocene-Pleistocene epochs, living from 4.9 million to 780,000 years ago, existing for about 4.12 million years.
The genus probably arose from Eurasian Miocene hyenas such as Thalassictis or Lycyaena, with C. borissiaki being the oldest known representative. The species C. ossifragus was the only hyena to cross the Bering land bridge into the Americas, and ranged over what is now Arizona and Mexico during Blancan and early Irvingtonian Land Mammal ages, between 5.0 and 1.5 million years ago.
Chasmaporthetes was one of the so-called "dog-like" hyenas (of which the aardwolf is the only survivor), a hyaenid group which, in contrast to the now more common "bone-crushing" hyenas, evolved into slender-limbed, cursorial hunters like modern canids.
Text in “About” is quoted from the Wikipedia article Chasmaporthetes (revision 1380695521), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0; introduction excerpted verbatim, formatting removed. Ages, family, authority and fossil records: Paleobiology Database, accessed 23 October 2026. Ages are those of the rock layers the fossils were found in. Wikidata: Q137581.
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