What Does “A Clan of Hyenas” Mean?
“Clan” is the proper technical term used by researchers for spotted hyena social groups, and it describes one of the most complex, extensively studied social structures of any carnivore. Spotted hyena clans are famously matriarchal, females are larger and more dominant than males, and rank within the clan is inherited directly from the mother, with cubs born into their mother’s social position from birth rather than having to earn it.
Clan society is genuinely intricate, involving alliances, rivalries, and social strategies that long-term field research, including decades of work by biologist Kay Holekamp and colleagues in Kenya’s Maasai Mara, has compared in complexity to primate social structures. Clans can include dozens of individuals sharing a territory and a communal den, cooperating in hunts and territorial defense while constantly navigating a rigid, inherited hierarchy that shapes nearly every aspect of a hyena’s life within the group.
Example: “A clan of hyenas patrolled the boundary of their territory, the dominant female leading as always.”
Related: Collective Nouns for Mammals