Hyena, corocotta, leucrocotta…? O pochodzeniu średniowiecznej bestii

Abstract

Real and mythical creatures were described in medieval bestiaries, including hyena, corocotta and leucrotta. The authors obtained information about them from ancient works. Similarities in descriptions and iconography suggest that the same animal, perhaps a real species, not a fantastic creature, is hidden under these names. Based on the analysis of the descriptions of ancient authors and preserved iconographic images, it becomes apparent that the morphology, behaviour of the described creatures clearly indicates that in their texts ancient and later medieval authors described the striped hyena and the spotted hyena. Fantastic elements about this animal, emphasized in antiquity and the Middle Ages, were largely due to misinterpretation of the information heard and the fact that most of the writers describing it have never seen an animal of this species. Scientific interest in hyena falls only in the eighteenth century.