Rodrigues owl
| Rodrigues owl | |
|---|---|
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| Fossils | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Strigiformes |
| Family: | Strigidae |
| Genus: | Mascarenotus |
| Species: | M. murivorus |
| Binomial name | |
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Mascarenotus murivorus (Milne-Edwards, 1873) |
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| Synonyms | |
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Strix murivora Milne-Edwards, 1873 |
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Strix murivora Milne-Edwards, 1873
Carine murivora Günther & E. Newton, 1879
Bubo leguati (female) Rothschild, 1907
Athene murivora (male) Rothschild, 1907
The Rodrigues owl (Mascarenotus murivorus), also known as 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 genus of Mascarene owls, Mascarenotus. Like many of the Mascarene land-birds, the genus was a distinct relative to South-East Asian taxa, in this case apparently the Ninox owls of Australasia. However, they evolved to a form more like an Otus little owl, and in accord with a general trend seen in insular owls, their feet were proportionally elongated and they were able to live a more terrestrial lifestyle. It is sometimes assumed that Leguat mentioned this bird in his 1708 description, but this seems to be in error; Julien Tafforet gives a good description in 1726, however. The Rodrigues bird, which Tafforet compared to the petit-duc, the European scops owl (and not, as often assumed to the little owl, the chouette chevêche), was more arboreal than its congeners and fed on small birds and "lizards" (small specimens of the Rodrigues day gecko and the Rodrigues giant day gecko). A monotonous call was given in good weather. Considering the bird's likely relationships as evidenced by the subfossil bones discovered later, and the detailed description of the related Mauritius owl, the Rodriguez bird was as large as a good-sized Southern boobook, with females reaching the size of a long-eared owl, and had ear tufts like an Otus owl and nearly naked legs.
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