Crocuta crocuta
The reputation is wrong. Spotted hyenas kill most of what they eat, live in clans run by females, and are among the smartest carnivores in Africa.
Spotted hyenas live in clans that can number dozens of animals, organised in a strict rank where every adult female outranks every male. Cubs inherit their mother's rank. The famous whoop carries for miles and keeps the clan in touch across the plains; the giggle is a sign of nerves, not amusement.
Hans Kruuk's Serengeti study in the 1960s overturned the scavenger myth: clans run down wildebeest and zebra themselves and are more often robbed by lions than the other way round.
No. Spotted hyenas are skilled pack hunters and kill most of their own food, mainly wildebeest, zebra and gazelle. They scavenge when they can, like lions do.
Neither. Hyenas are their own family, Hyaenidae, which sits closer to cats and mongooses than to dogs.
The giggle is a social signal, usually made by a hyena that is excited or being harassed over food, not an expression of amusement.