They live in caves, dense vegetation, or the abandoned burrows of other animals. They are mainly nocturnal. They move about on their digits and seem to trot tirelessly. The aardwolf feeds primarily on insects, while hyenas are efficient scavengers and predators of large mammals. Individuals may occur alone, in pairs, or in groups.
Females normally bear a single litter per year.
The family is thought to have evolved from a branch of the Viverridae. The Johns Hopkins University Press. All rights reserved. This document may be used, with this notice included, for noncommercial purposes within a purchasing institution . No copies of this work may be distributed electronically outside of the subscribed institution, in whole or in part, without written permission from the JHU Press .