Gansuyaena
| Gansuyaena Temporal range: Middle Miocene to Late Miocene | |
|---|---|
| Gansuyaena megalotis holotype skull | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Carnivora |
| Suborder: | Feliformia |
| Family: | Hyaenidae |
| Subfamily: | Protelinae |
| Genus: | †Gansuyaena Galiano et. al., 2021 |
| Type species | |
| †Gansuyaena megalotis Galiano et. al., 2021 | |
| Other species | |
|
†G. guerini Galiano et. al., 2021 | |
Gansuyaena is an extinct genus of small hyenas that lived through the Middle to Late Miocene. Among all known fossil hyaenids Gansuyaena was the most closely related to the extant Proteles genus which contains the aardwolf, but Gansuyaena was not a likely ancestor of Proteles. Gansuyaena may have been a dietary generalist. It likely had sharp hearing and vision. Gansuyaena megalotis possibly had insectivorous adaptations, including adaptations to termite-eating.