From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Chasmaporthetes was one of several extinct hyena genera which hunted prey at high speed, rather like a modern cheetah. They appeared roughly 10 million years ago, and were an important predator through their range, one of the few hyaenid genus to compete successfully with canids in Europe and North America. It was the only hyaenid genus which crossed the Bering Strait into North America, during the Pliocene era.
The last Chasmaporthetes species became extinct during the Pleistocene as a result of the Ice Ages.
