The spotted hyena was first officially described by German naturalist Johann Christian Polikap Erxler in 1777. The ancient Greek root of the scientific name of the spotted hyena was used by Pliny the Elder to describe an unknown animal in Ethiopia, possibly the hyena. In literature, it means' object in the color of saffron '. Although spotted hyenas have some similarities to the canidae family, they are more closely related to the civet family. Spotted hyenas belong to the cat suborder, so they are closer to the feline family than to the canine family. The spotted hyena is currently the largest member of the hyena family. It is believed that the ancestor of the spotted hyena branched out from the striped hyena during the Pliocene period (5.33-18 million years ago).