Rodrigues scops owl

Rodrigues scops owl
Fossils

Extinct (mid-18th century)  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Strigiformes
Family: Strigidae
Genus: Otus
Species:
†O. murivorus
Binomial name
†Otus murivorus
Synonyms

Strix murivora Milne-Edwards, 1873
Carine murivora Günther & E. Newton, 1879
Bubo leguati (female) Rothschild, 1907
Athene murivora (male) Rothschild, 1907
Mascarenotus murivorus Milne-Edwards, 1873

The Rodrigues scops owl (Otus murivorus), also known as Rodrigues owl, Rodrigues lizard owl, Leguat's owl, or (somewhat misleadingly) Rodrigues little owl, was a small owl. It lived on the Mascarene island of Rodrigues, but it is nowadays extinct. It is part of the three Mascarene owls, formerly classified in the genus Mascarenotus, although they are now classified in the genus Otus.[2] Like many of the Mascarene land-birds, the genus was a distinct relative to South-East Asian taxa, in this case apparently being a descendant of the direct ancestor of the Oriental scops owl.[3] This insular scops owl had evolved gigantism, becoming twice as large and four times heavier than its continental ancestor.[4]

  1. ^ BirdLife International (2012). "Mascarenotus murivorus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2012. Retrieved 26 November 2013.
  2. ^ IOC World Bird List 11.1 (Report). doi:10.14344/ioc.ml.11.1.
  3. ^ "Ancient DNA reveals the origins, colonization histories and evolutionary pathways of two recently extinct species of giant scops owl from Mauritius and Rodrigues Islands (Mascarene Islands, southwestern Indian Ocean) | Request PDF". ResearchGate. Retrieved 2018-11-25.
  4. ^ Duhamel, A. et al. (2020) Cranial evolution in the extinct Rodrigues Island owl Otus murivorus (Strigidae), associated with unexpected ecological adaptations. Scientific Reports, 10:14019.