![]() Though originally thought to represent a composite or zoomorphic hybrid, it is probable it is a spotted hyena based on its broad muzzle and long neck. It has a broad, line-like mouth that evokes a smile. It has large round eyes and short, rounded ears which are set far from each other. An image in the Le Gabillou Cave in Dordogne shows a deeply engraved zoomorphic figure with a head in frontal view and an elongated neck with part of the forelimb in profile. The ear is typical of the spotted hyena, as it is rounded. Its head is in profile, with a possibly re-engraved muzzle. An image on a cave in Ariège shows an incompletely outlined and deeply engraved figure, representing a part of an elongated neck, smoothly passing into part of the animal's forelimb on the proximal side. The body and the long neck have spots, including the flanks. In Lascaux, a red and black rock painting of a hyena is present in the part of the cave known as the Diverticule axial, and is depicted in profile, with four limbs, showing an animal with a steep back. Because of the specimen's steeped profile, it is thought that the painting was originally meant to represent a cave bear, but was modified as a hyena. ![]() A painting from the Chauvet Cave depicts a hyena outlined and represented in profile, with two legs, with its head and front part with well distinguishable spotted coloration pattern. The spotted hyena (cave hyena subspecies) is depicted in a few examples of Upper Palaeolithic rock art in France. In prehistory Atlatl mammoth ivory "creeping hyena", found in La Madeleine rock shelter, dated back to circa 12,000 to 17,000 years ago The IUCN's hyena specialist group identifies the spotted hyena's negative reputation as detrimental to the species' continued survival, both in captivity and the wild. Explicit, negative judgments occur in the Physiologus, where the animal is depicted as a hermaphrodite and grave-robber. The majority of Western perceptions on the species can be found in the writings of Aristotle and Pliny the Elder, though in relatively unjudgmental form. ![]() In the former, the species is mostly regarded as ugly and cowardly, while in the latter, it is viewed as greedy, gluttonous, stupid, and foolish, yet powerful and potentially dangerous. The species has a largely negative reputation in both Western culture and African folklore. The spotted hyena has a long history of interaction with humanity depictions of the species exist from the Upper Paleolithic period, with carvings and paintings from the Lascaux and Chauvet Caves. Spotted hyenas in culture Trace of a 20,000-year-old spotted hyena painting from the Chauvet Cave, France
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