Otus mauli Rando, Pieper, Alcover & Olson, 2012
Madeiran scops owl, Madeiran scops-owl
Taxonomy & Nomenclature
Synonym/s: aff. Otus scops Louchart, 2005?
Conservation Status
Extinct
Last record: Late Quaternary
Distribution
Madeira (& Porto Santo?), Portugal
Apart from the holotype and paratypes (collectively the "type series") from Madeira itself, [i]Otus[/i] sp. material was excavated from Porto Santo Island 43km (27mi) north-east of Madeira. However, the fragmentary nature of these finds did not allow a safe designation of the collected material to [i]Otus mauli[/i]. It was therefore more conservatively labelled as "Otus cf. mauli", and given the common name "Porto Santo Scops Owl" by (Rando et al. 2012:37). Whether this material refers to [i]Otus mauli[/i], or a very similar taxon, can only be determined when more material becomes available as a result of further excavations on the island.
Biology & Ecology
Hypodigm
Holotype: MMF 41628 ("Complete right tarsometatarsus")
Type locality: "Ponta de São Lourenço (Madeira Island)."
Paratypes (only accession numbers given, see Rando et al. 2012:33, available free online, for specific details):
MMF 41629 to 41645 (n=17 lots)
DZUL 3054 and 3055 (n=2 lots)
Material referred to "Otus cf. mauli" excavated from Porto Santo (Rando et al. 2012:37):
MMF 41646 ("damaged left ulna")
MMF 41647 ("[damaged] left humerus")
MMF 41648 ("left tarsometatarsus")
MMF 41649 ("small proximal fragment of a left radius")
MMF 41650 ("right scapula with....")
MMF 41651 ("fragment of diaphysis of a right humerus")
DZUL 3056 (fragment of diaphysis of a right tibiotarsus)
Media
References
Original scientific description:
Rando, Juan Carlos, Pieper, Harald, Alcover, Josep Antoni and Olson, Storrs L. (2012). A new species of extinct fossil scops owl (Aves: Strigiformes: Strigidae: Otus) from the Archipelago of Madeira (North Atlantic Ocean). Zootaxa 3182: 29-42.
Other references:
Louchart, Antoine. (2005). Integrating the Fossil Record in the Study of Insular Body Size Evolution: Example of Owls (Aves, Strigiformes). In: ALCOVER, J.A. & BOVER, P. (eds.) Proceedings of the International Symposium “Insular Vertebrate Evolution: the Palaeontological Approach”. Monografies de la Societat d’Història Natural de les Balears 12: 155-174.
Pieper H (1985) The fossil land birds of Madeira and Porto Santo. Bocagiana 88, 1–6.
Sayol, Ferran, Steinbauer, Manuel J., Blackburn, Tim M., Antonelli, Alexandre and Faurby, Søren. (2020). Anthropogenic extinctions conceal widespread evolution of flightlessness in birds. Science Advances 6(49): eabb6095. https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.abb6095 [Supplementary Material (Data File S1)]
Tyrberg, Tommy. (2009). Holocene avian extinctions, pp. 63-106. In: Turvey, Samuel T. (ed.). Holocene Extinctions. Oxford, UK & New York, USA: Oxford University Press. xii + 352 pp.