Dinocrocuta

Terrible Hyena

***Dinocrocuta*** is a large, carnivorous mammal native to the Arctic Sector of FMM UV-32. It is often referred to as the scourge the Far North Tour.

## Biology

The alien *Dinocrocuta* of FMM UV-32 lives up to its nickname of the "terrible hyena" well, being one of the larger and more powerful carnivores available to hunt on the Far North Tour.

*Dinocrocuta* is an incredibly robust carnivore. They will often confront packs of *Hyaenodon* and successfully bully them off of freshly killed prey. *Dinocrocuta* are known to feed particularly on unparented nests or dens, especially on infant *Castoroides.*

Unlike many nocturnal animals, instead of evolving better eyesight to see in the dim far northern nights, the hyena has evolved so as to not require complicated color vision. Due to this, they lack both lenses and irises, and their eyes appear almost glazed over, much to the terror of DinoHunt clients. Because of their decrease in vision, they have evolved an extremely advanced olfactory sense, being able to track prey from miles away using only scent in extremely low visibility, such as blizzards.

*Dinocrocuta* are extremely solitary creatures, rarely crossing territorial bounds, only doing so to mate during their breeding season. Both male and females have territorial ranges, fiercely guarding their well defined borders (defined through smell, of course). Due to this, *Dinocrocuta* are a relatively rare sight on the Dinosaur Planet, as they never form social groups and often kill others of their own species.

Because of the aggressive nature of *Dinocrocuta* adults, the pups are born incredibly precocial. Mother *Dinocrocuta* lose their maternal instinct within days, leaving the pups to defend themselves. Born with considerably more fur than the adults, they don't bear much difference to adults at all. The pups have been observed brutally fighting for dominance over the litter, and oftentimes there will only be one or two pups left out of litters of four to six. *Dinocrocuta* do not rely on their mother's milk for long; there have even been found populations of female *Dinocrocuta* with mammary glands that do not even produce milk.

Eerily, *Dinocrocuta* can produce sounds unsettlingly similar to that of a human. It is commonly believed that this is simply due to coincidence, but several DinoHunt researchers disagree, upholding the theory as stated in their own words below after investigating isolated *Dinocrocuta* populations.

> *"These creatures obviously have developed a taste for man. That much is indisputable... What we believe is that these creatures have the ability to at least partially imitate prey. We believe this presents a danger to the clients and residents of DinoHunt Corporation's hunting and colonization ventures."*
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This theory has been frequently denounced and challenged, with rebuttals that the sounds are only vaguely alike, or that it only pertains to such isolated populations. Despite critics, DinoHunt Corp. is especially wary of these freaks of the tundra's night.

## Older Versions

*Dinocrocuta* has undergone several model revisions. Only one image exists of the first, more greenish model, which was accidentally lost and never recovered. The second brown model was animated, but went unused in the official mod as it was replaced by the modern version.