It belongs to the hyena family (Hyaenidae) and the hyena subfamily (Hyaeninae) and is the largest of the modern hyenas.
The hyena family includes two contemporaneous subfamilies:
- Proteles (Protelinae), whose only living representative is the aardwolf (Proteles cristatus), also known as the termite-eating hyena
- Hyenas (Hyaeninae), which includes two genera: crocuta (Crocuta), whose only living contemporary representative is the spotted hyena, and hyena (Hyaena), whose representatives are two species: striped hyena (Hyaena hyaena) and brown hyena (Parahyaena brunnea).
