It was once thought that the mottled hyena’s name Crocuta came from the Latin word “crocutus,” which means “saffron-colored” (in reference to the color of the animal’s fur). In fact, the name Crocuta comes from the ancient Greek word Κροκόττας “crocotta,” which was originally thought to mean golden jackal.
The earliest mention of Κροκόττας comes from Strabo’s Geographica (Strabon’s 17 books on geography), where the animal is described as a wolf-dog mic native to Ethiopia.
