Are Hyenas Cats or Dogs?

Hyenas are neither cats nor dogs. They belong to their own family, the Hyaenidae, which also includes the aardwolf. This family is more closely related to cats than to dogs. The order Carnivora, to which the cat, dog and hyena families all belong, is divided into two branches, the Feliformia (cat-like) families, and the Caniformia (dog-like) families. The Feliformia branch includes cats, hyenas, civets and genets, and mongooses, whilst the Caniformia branch includes dogs, weasels and relatives, bears, raccoons and relatives, seals and sealions. The resemblance of hyenas to dogs is due to convergent evolution - the process by which unrelated species evolve similar solutions to similar problems.