In all genera the guard hairs are coarse and the tail is bushy. The head and forequarters are large, but the hindquarters are rather weak. The forelimbs, which are slender in Proteles but powerfully built in Crocuta and Hyaena, are longer than the hind limbs. Proteles has five digits on the forefoot and four on the hind foot, while Crocuta and Hyaena have four digits on each foot. The blunt claws are not retractile.
Scent glands are present in the anal region.
Males do not have a baculum, and females have one to three pairs of mammae. In Proteles the skull and jaws are weak, the cheek teeth are reduced and widely spaced, and the carnassials are not developed, but the canines are sharp and fairly powerful. In Crocuta and Hyaena, on the other hand, the skull and jaws are strong, and the teeth, including the carnassials, are powerfully developed for crushing bones. In all genera of the family the incisors are not specialized and the canines are elongate. Hyenas and the aardwolf generally inhabit grassland or bush country, but they may also occur in open forest.