Mayotte scops owl, Otus mayottensis – formerly included in O.Torotoroka scops owl, Otus madagascariensis – formerly included in O.Serendib scops owl, Otus thilohoffmanni. White-fronted scops owl, Otus sagittatus.The genus Otus contains 59 species (including 3 extinct species): In 2003, the AOU formally re-accepted the genus Megascops again. Though there was some debate about the reliability of these findings at first, they have been confirmed by subsequent studies. In 1999, a preliminary study of mtDNA cytochrome b across a wide range of owls found that even the treatment as subgenera was probably unsustainable and suggested that most of the genera proposed around 1850 should be accepted. Still, the diversity and distinctness of the group failed to come together in a good evolutionary and phylogenetic picture, and it was not until the availability of DNA sequence data that this could be resolved. In 1988 it was attempted to resolve this by re-establishing all those genera split some 140 years earlier at subgenus rank inside Otus. Although this move was never unequivocally accepted, it was the dominant treatment throughout most of the 20th century. The 3rd edition of the AOU checklist in 1910 placed the screech owls back in Otus. In the early 20th century, the lumping-together of taxa had come to be preferred. The Palau scops owl, described only in 1872 and little-known to this day, was eventually separated in Pyrroglaux by Yoshimaro Yamashina in 1938. Gymnasio was established in the same year for the Puerto Rican owl, and the bare-legged owl (or "Cuban screech owl") was separated in Gymnoglaux the following year the latter genus was sometimes merged with Gymnasio by subsequent authors. In 1854, the highly apomorphic white-throated screech owl of the Andes was placed in the monotypic genus Macabra. The white-faced owls of Africa, with their huge eyes and striking facial coloration, were separated in Ptilopsis in 1851. First, in 1848, the screech owls were split off as Megascops. īy the mid-19th century, it was becoming clear that Otus encompassed more than one genus. The generic name Scops that was proposed by Marie Jules César Savigny in 1809 is a junior synonym and is derived from the Greek σκώψ ( skōps) meaning small kind of owl, Otus scops. The name is derived from the Latin word otus and the Greek word ὦτος ōtos meaning horned or eared owl (cf. The genus Otus was introduced in 1769 by the Welsh naturalist Thomas Pennant for the Indian scops owl ( O. A well-camouflaged African scops owl ( Otus senegalensis)
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |