tyle="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt" class=MsoNormal>tyle="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; mso-font-kerning: 0pt" lang=EN-US>The carnivoran family Hyaenidae has an evolutionary history stretching ~20 Ma. Their ecological diversity peaked during the Late Miocene. In this paper, one group of Late Miocene hyaenids and their sister family Percrocutidae, from the t;urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />Linxia Basin of Northwest try-region>Chinatry-region>, was studied using geometric morphometrics analysis of cranial shape. The findings indicate that Crocuta and Dinocrocuta not only converge on robust adult cranial morphology, but also share similar ontogenetic trajectories; the prolonged period of ontogeny in Crocuta required for developing the robust morphology may also be true for Dinocrocuta. The ictithere-like morphology of juvenile Crocuta suggests that adult cranial shape of the extant hyaenid is obtained via continued allometric growth from, and beyond, the ictithere bauplan. tyle="FONT-SIZE: 14pt" lang=EN-US>t;urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />