Do you laugh outloud when alone? When was the last time when you laughed? Author has 1.8k answers and 1.7m answer views. Why do hyenas “laugh”? Hyenas show little sexual dimorphism, and the one thing that can usually distinguish who’s female in the bunch is the one who is slightly bigger than the rest! Hyenas do indeed make loud barking noises that sound like cackling laughter, but it's not because they're amused by anything. Are they actually laughing? (Actually they are more closely related to cats.) When a feeding frenzy ensues, hyenas may claw and nip at each other in an effort to get a mouthful of meat. Among the four species of hyenas, only the spotted hyenas ‘laugh.’ They also have the strongest jaws in proportion to their body size across the entire mammal kingdom. Fran Drescher ... Why do I laugh when threatened? Males and females also have strikingly similar genitalia which, if you weren’t a hyena, you’d think they were all boys! For that reason, the most successful hyenas will hunt alone and then return to the clan to benefit from the protection that the social grouping offers. Do all species of hyenas laugh? No male machos in this species! E. M. Swanson The hyena carrying this head and spine was giggling like mad as its clan mate chased it around. Second, our perception of their laughter is an unconscious act of projecting a human emotion onto their non-human behavior, typically to make sense of their actions. What does a hyena laugh mean? Yet, even though they remind us of our most beloved household pets, hyenas get about the worst press of any mammal known to humankind. Spotted hyenas have a complex series of vocalizations that have been described as laughing but are actually how they communicate with other individuals in their group. Hyenas that hunt in groups have a 20 percent greater chance of catching prey, but also have higher likelihood of attracting unwanted attention [source: Michigan State University]. For most people a hyena would be the last animal we’d want in our home. Why do hyenas laugh? The Science Behind What Makes Us Laugh. But those aren't signs of happiness. Unfortunately, giggling by a hyena carrying food tends to attract other hyenas to it, and actually often results in even more harassment directed at the caller. ... Aside from that famous hyena laugh, (which isn’t a sign of happiness) we’ve made plenty of animals giggle. Instead, a hyena's "laughter" is actually a form of communication used to convey frustration, excitement, or fear. That aggressive behavior incites the laughterlike outbursts that we associate with the spotted hyena. Instead, a hyena's "laughter" is actually a form of communication used to convey frustration, excitement, or fear. Most of the time, a spotted hyena's laugh is in response to agitation or attack [source: Joyce]. Hyenas are known for their hysterical laughter. In this post, we'll answer these questions and more. But do they really have a sense of humor or are they laughing for totally different reason? All of the world’s animals are awesome, but hyenas easily rank among the earth’s greatest predators in my opinion, as well as among the ultimate killers in the animal kingdom.