The sexual illusion of the spotted hyena

 So how many times do we hear women talk about the pain of childbirth? Well I’m here to tell you that compared to the hyena, we have it easy. The spotted hyena (Crocuta crocuta) is one of the most unique carnivores when it comes to sexual behaviour. The female is more aggressive than the male, possesses the larger body size and are the socially dominant ones in the clan. This can make for an interesting courtship, especially when it comes to copulation as the female is known to “rule the roost”.

 What is exceptionally unique about the female hyena is that they have no external vagina. In fact the females have genitalia that look like males. The labia is fused together to form what is known as a pseudoscrotum and the clitoris is elongated and fully erected and can act like a penis(Szykman et al, 2007). The female will urinate, copulate and even give birth through the elongated clitoris. This is helped by a hormone that allows for an increased extensibility and elasticity for the central urogenital canal (clitoris) to be dilated enough so the foetus can pass through it (Steinetz et al, 1997).

 As one would imagine, copulation becomes extremely difficult for the males as intromission must be through the urogenital canal. The female can retract the clitoris into her abdomen, allowing the male to insert with more ease. Even then it would appear to be rather difficult for the initial intromission and can be a slow process that can put mating pairs in risk of predation (Szykman et al, 2007). 
 The males are often fearful of courtship and will sometimes avoid opportunities to mate. Behaviours such as approach- avoid and bowing are displayed towards the female and only if the female is accepting of the male will copulation occur. Sadly for the male the more a female is likely to respond to mating the more aggressive she will be towards that male. Researches are still not sure why the female’s genitalia have evolved this way (Szykman et al, 2007), although it does make it almost impossible for forced mating to occur and could possibly be a trait that has evolved by the female solely choosing the genes of her future offspring.


 References:
 Steinetz, B.G., Randolph, C., Weldele, M., Frank, L.G., Licht,P., and Glickman, S.E, 1997. ‘Pattern and source of secretion of relaxin in the reproductive cycle of the Spotted Hyena (Crocuta crocuta)’, Biology of reproduction, Vol. 56, pp. 1301-1306.

 Szykman, M., Van Horn, R. C., Engh, A. L., Bodystone, E. E., and Holekamp, K.E, 2007.‘Courtship and mating in free-living Spotted Hyenas’, Behaviour, Vol. 144, no. 7, pp. 815-846.