Did you know that spotted hyenas endure one of the most difficult and dangerous births in the entire animal kingdom?

Unlike most mammals, female hyenas possess a highly unusual reproductive anatomy. What looks like a penis is actually an elongated clitoris, known as a pseudo-penis. Their labia are fused, forming what appears to be a scrotum. To the untrained eye, females and males look almost identical—a trait that has long puzzled scientists.

But this uniqueness comes with a price. When a female gives birth, her cub must pass through the narrow, elongated pseudo-penis. The process is so extreme that the tissue often ruptures. First-time mothers face the highest risk—many don’t survive their first labor. Even worse, a large percentage of cubs die from suffocation before they ever take their first breath.

Mating itself is no less complicated. For a male, navigating the female’s pseudo-penis is a delicate task that requires precision and patience. Add to that the hyena’s strict matriarchal society, where dominant females rule over males, and reproduction becomes not just a biological challenge, but a social one.

Yet despite these hurdles, hyenas thrive. Their strange anatomy, though costly, plays a role in reinforcing female dominance and social cohesion. It’s a brutal reminder that in nature, survival often comes at a high price—and that evolution sometimes takes paths as fascinating as they are unforgiving.