Mauritius owl

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Mauritius owl
Scops commersoni (now a synonym of Otus sauzieri) illustrated by Paul Philippe Sanguin de Jossigny in 1770

Scops commersoni (now a synonym of Otus sauzieri ) illustrated by Paul Philippe Sanguin de Jossigny in 1770

Systematics
Class : Birds (aves)
Order : Owls (Strigiformes)
Family : Real owls (Strigidae)
Subfamily : Striginae
Genre : Scops Owls ( Otus )
Type : Mauritius owl
Scientific name
Otus sauzieri
( Newton & Gadow , 1893)

The Mauritius owl ( Otus sauzieri , synonym: Mascarenotus sauzieri ) is an extinct species of owl that was native to the island of Mauritius . It is best known through subfossil bone material, a drawing by Paul Philippe Sanguin de Jossigny and a manuscript by Philibert Commerson from 1770, as well as a description by Julien Desjardins from 1837.

features

Mauritius owl bones from the collection of Theodore Sauzier. Bottom row: Figures 11 to 18

The Mauritius owl probably reached a length of 42 centimeters. It was a large, long-eared owl with featherless legs. The top was dark brown, with the head, neck and back feathers lined with reddish. The tail was reddish brown with a light reddish marbling. The wings were brown and had irregular white, light beige and brownish bandages. The throat and sides of the body were whitish. The rest of the underside was dark beige with whitish spots.

Way of life

The Mauritius owl was the largest endemic predator in Mauritius. Judging by its strong claws, it probably fed on lizards and small birds.

die out

The first mention of owls in Mauritius comes from the Dutch admiral Cornelis Matelief de Jonge in 1606, who noted that owls were widespread on the island. The most detailed description comes from Julien Desjardins in 1837. Desjardins stated that the specimen he described was shot in October 1836 in Bamboo Creek , a wooded hill. In September 1837 a few specimens were seen near La Savane . In the same year the last known specimen was discovered by a Dr. Killed Dobson by the 99th Regiment in Curipipe Forest. Overhunting combined with habitat loss due to the overgrowth of tea and sugar cane plantations led to the rapid disappearance of this species of owl. In 1859 the naturalist George Clark confirmed the extinction of the Mauritius owl.

Systematics

The Mauritius owl was first scientifically described in 1893 as Strix sauzieri by Edward Newton and Hans Friedrich Gadow on the basis of bones that Théodore Sauzier had unearthed in 1889 in the Mare aux Songes fossil site in Mauritius. In 1896 Émile Oustalet described the species of owl Scops commersoni on the basis of a drawing by Paul Philippe Sanguin de Jossigny from 1770. Since the owl was portrayed in natural size in the drawing, the length of the tarsometatarsus of Scops commersoni with the length of the tarsometatarsus of Mascarenotus sauzieri and no other owl species existed on Mauritius, a synonymization was made in 1994 that summarized all of the previously described owl taxa from Mauritius into one species. In 1907, Walter Rothschild mentioned the taxon Strix newtoni in his work Extinct Birds and stated that two species of owl must have existed in Mauritius, Strix sauzieri , which he called grass owl and Strix newtoni , which he considered barn owl ( barn owl ). In 1953, Strix sauzieri and Strix newtoni were recombined by Masauji Hachisuka as Tyto sauzieri and Tyto newtoni . In 1971 Pierce Brodkorb synonymized the taxa T. sauzieri and T. newtoni . In 1987, the ornithologist Graham S. Cowles reported doubts that the classification into the genus Tyto was correct and proposed a new genus for the owls of the Mascarenes, which was described in 1994 as Mascarenotus .

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Newton, Edward, and Hans Gadow. 1893. On Additional Bones of the Dodo and Other Extinct Birds of Mauritius Obtained by Mr. Theodore Sauzier . In: Transactions of the Zoological Society of London, 13, part 7 (1): p. 281-302, panels 33-37.
  2. ^ Oustalet, E. 1896. Notice sur la faune ornithologique ancienne et modeme des Iles Mascareignes et en particulier de l'Ile Maurice d'après des documents inédits. Annales des Sciences Naturelles, série 8, (Zoology), 3: 1-128.
  3. ^ A b Mourer-Chauviré, Cécile, C. Roger Bour, François Moutou & Sonia Ribes, 1994. Mascarenotus Nov. Gen. (Aves: Strigiformes) Genre Endémique Éteint des Mascareignes et M. grucheti N. Sp. Espèce Éteinte de la Réunion. Académie des Sciences, Comptes Rendus, sér. 2A 318: 1699-1706.
  4. ^ Rothschild, LWR 1907. Extinct birds, an attempt to write in one volume a short account of those birds which have become extinct in historical times, that is within the last six or seven hundred years: to which are added a few which still exist , but are on the verge of extinction / by the Hon. Walter Rothschild. London: Hutchinson. XXIX + 243 p.
  5. ↑ Hachisuka, Masauji. 1953. The Dodo and Kindred Birds. H. & G. Witherby, London. xvi + 250 pp.
  6. ^ Brodkorb, P. 1971. Catalog of fossil birds . In: Bulletin of the Florida State Museum. 7: 1-1228.
  7. ^ Graham S. Cowles, 1987: The Fossil Record . In: Studies of Mascarene Island Birds AW Diamond editor: Cambridge University Press.

literature

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