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''Strix'' is a
genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nom ...
of owls in the typical owl family (Strigidae), one of the two generally accepted living families of owls, with the other being the barn-owl (Tytonidae). Common names are earless owls or wood owls, though they are not the only owls without ear tufts, and " wood owl" is also used as a more generic name for forest-dwelling owls.
Neotropical The Neotropical realm is one of the eight biogeographic realms constituting Earth's land surface. Physically, it includes the tropical terrestrial ecoregions of the Americas and the entire South American temperate zone. Definition In bioge ...
birds in the genus ''
Ciccaba ''Strix'' is a genus of owls in the typical owl family (Strigidae), one of the two generally accepted living families of owls, with the other being the barn-owl (Tytonidae). Common names are earless owls or wood owls, though they are not the o ...
'' are sometimes included in ''Strix''. These are medium-sized to large, robustly built, powerful owls. They do not have ear tufts and most are highly
nocturnal Nocturnality is an animal behavior characterized by being active during the night and sleeping during the day. The common adjective is "nocturnal", versus diurnal meaning the opposite. Nocturnal creatures generally have highly developed sens ...
woodland birds. Most prey on small
mammal Mammals () are a group of vertebrate animals constituting the class Mammalia (), characterized by the presence of mammary glands which in females produce milk for feeding (nursing) their young, a neocortex (a region of the brain), fur ...
s, birds, and
reptiles Reptiles, as most commonly defined are the animals in the class Reptilia ( ), a paraphyletic grouping comprising all sauropsids except birds. Living reptiles comprise turtles, crocodilians, squamates ( lizards and snakes) and rhynchoceph ...
. Most owls in the genus ''Strix'' can be distinguished from other
genera Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nomenclat ...
of owls through their hooting vocalization and lack of visible ears. The
Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through ...
genus name ''Strix'' referred to a mythical vampiric owl-monster believed to suck the blood of infants. Although the genus ''Strix'' was established for the earless owls by
Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (; 23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after his ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné Blunt (2004), p. 171. (), was a Swedish botanist, zoologist, taxonomist, and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the ...
in 1758, many applied the term to other owls (namely the ''
Tyto ''Tyto'' is a genus of birds consisting of true barn owls, grass owls and masked owls that collectively make up all the species within the subfamily Tytoninae of the barn owl family, Tytonidae. Taxonomy The genus ''Tyto'' was introduced in 1828 ...
'') until the late 19th century.Mlíkovský, Jirí (2002)
''Cenozoic Birds of the World, Part 1: Europe''
. Ninox Press, Prague. p.217
This genus is closely related to the extinct Ornimegalonyx.


Taxonomy

The genus ''Strix'' was introduced by the Swedish naturalist
Carl Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (; 23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after his ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné Blunt (2004), p. 171. (), was a Swedish botanist, zoologist, taxonomist, and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, ...
in 1758 in the tenth edition of his ''
Systema Naturae ' (originally in Latin written ' with the ligature æ) is one of the major works of the Swedish botanist, zoologist and physician Carl Linnaeus (1707–1778) and introduced the Linnaean taxonomy. Although the system, now known as binomial ...
''. The
type species In zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the species that contains the biological type specim ...
is the
tawny owl The tawny owl (''Strix aluco''), also called the brown owl, is commonly found in woodlands across Europe to western Siberia, and has seven recognized subspecies. It is a stocky, medium-sized owl, whose underparts are pale with dark streaks, a ...
. The genus name is a
Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through ...
word meaning "owl".


Species

The genus contains 22 species: * Spotted wood owl, ''S. seloputo'' * Mottled wood owl, ''S. ocellata'' * Brown wood owl, ''S. leptogrammica'' *
Tawny owl The tawny owl (''Strix aluco''), also called the brown owl, is commonly found in woodlands across Europe to western Siberia, and has seven recognized subspecies. It is a stocky, medium-sized owl, whose underparts are pale with dark streaks, a ...
, ''S. aluco'' * Maghreb owl, ''S. mauritanica'' * Himalayan owl, ''S. nivicolum'' * Desert owl, ''S. hadorami'' *
Omani owl The Omani owl (''Strix butleri'') is an owl of the genus '' Strix'' found in shrubland and rocky areas of Oman, Iran and the United Arab Emirates. It was discovered in 2013. After the distinctive Omani owl was discovered, a similar-looking ow ...
, ''S. butleri'' * Spotted owl, ''S. occidentalis'' *
Barred owl The barred owl (''Strix varia''), also known as the northern barred owl, striped owl or, more informally, hoot owl, is a North American large species of owl. A member of the true owl family, Strigidae, they belong to the genus '' Strix'', whic ...
, ''S. varia'' * Cinereous owl, ''S. sartorii'' *
Fulvous owl The fulvous owl (''Strix fulvescens''), or Guatemala barred owl, is a resident of the cloud forests of Central America. A medium-sized true owl, it has a round head, lacking ear tufts. Typical coloration is warm dark brown or reddish brown on th ...
, ''S. fulvescens'' * Rusty-barred owl, ''S. hylophila'' * Chaco owl, ''S. chacoensis'' *
Rufous-legged owl The rufous-legged owl (''Strix rufipes'') is a medium-sized owl. It is found in Argentina and Chile. Taxonomy and systematics The rufous-legged owl has two subspecies, the nominate ''Strix rufipes rufipes'' and ''S. r. sanborni''. The latter ...
, ''S. rufipes'' * Ural owl, ''S. uralensis'' *
Great grey owl The great grey owl (''Strix nebulosa'') (also great gray owl in American English) is a very large owl, documented as the world's largest species of owl by length. It is distributed across the Northern Hemisphere, and it is the only species in th ...
, ''S. nebulosa'' *
African wood owl The African wood owl (''Strix woodfordii'') or Woodford's owl, is a typical owl from the genus '' Strix'' in the family Strigidae which is widespread in sub-Saharan Africa. Description The African wood owl is a medium-sized owl which has the typ ...
, ''S. woodfordii'' *
Mottled owl The mottled owl (''Strix virgata'') is a medium-sized owl found in Central and South America from Mexico to Brazil and Argentina. The head and back are mottled brown and the underparts whitish, with vertical bars on the chest and throat. The eye ...
, ''Strix virgata'' * Black-and-white owl, ''Strix nigrolineata'' * Black-banded owl, ''Strix huhula'' * Rufous-banded owl, ''Strix albitarsis''


Fossil species

The genus ''Strix'' is well represented in the
fossil record A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved ...
. Being a fairly generic type of strigid owl, they were probably the first truly modern Strigidae to evolve. However, whether several of the species usually placed in this genus indeed belong here is uncertain. Generally accepted in ''Strix'' are: *''S. dakota'' (Early Miocene of South Dakota, USA) – tentatively placed here *''Strix'' sp. (Late Miocene of Nebraska, USA) *''Strix'' sp. (Late Pliocene of Rębielice Królewski, Poland) apparently similar to the
great grey owl The great grey owl (''Strix nebulosa'') (also great gray owl in American English) is a very large owl, documented as the world's largest species of owl by length. It is distributed across the Northern Hemisphere, and it is the only species in th ...
*''Strix intermedia'' (Early - Middle Pleistocene of EC Europe) – may be paleosubspecies of ''S. aluco'' *''Strix brea'' (Late Pleistocene of SW North America) Now placed in its own genus. (See below) * *''Strix'' sp. (Late Pleistocene of Ladds, USA) ''"Strix" wintershofensis'' (Early/Middle Miocene of Wintershof West, Germany) and ''"Strix" edwardsi'' (Middle Miocene of Grive-Saint-Alban, France), while being strigid owls, have not at present been reliably identified to genus; they might also belong into the European ''Ninox''-like group. ''"Strix" ignota'' (Middle Miocene of Sansan, France) is sometimes erroneously considered a ''
nomen nudum In taxonomy, a ''nomen nudum'' ('naked name'; plural ''nomina nuda'') is a designation which looks exactly like a scientific name of an organism, and may have originally been intended to be one, but it has not been published with an adequate desc ...
'', but this assumption is based on what appears to be a ''
lapsus In philology, a lapsus ( Latin for "lapse, slip, error") is an involuntary mistake made while writing or speaking. Investigations In 1895 an investigation into verbal slips was undertaken by a philologist and a psychologist, Rudolf Meringer and ...
'' or misprint in a 1912 source. It may well belong into the present genus, but this requires confirmation. ''"Strix" perpasta'' (Late Miocene – Early Pliocene of Gargano Peninsula, Italy) does not appear to belong into this genus either. It is sometimes considered a
junior synonym The Botanical and Zoological Codes of nomenclature treat the concept of synonymy differently. * In botanical nomenclature, a synonym is a scientific name that applies to a taxon that (now) goes by a different scientific name. For example, Linn ...
of a
brown fish-owl The brown fish owl (''Ketupa zeylonensis'') is a fish owl species in the family known as typical owls, Strigidae. It is native from Turkey to South and Southeast Asia. Due its wide distribution it is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List. ...
paleosubspecies A chronospecies is a species derived from a sequential development pattern that involves continual and uniform changes from an extinct ancestral form on an evolutionary scale. The sequence of alterations eventually produces a population that is p ...
.
UMMP The University of Michigan in Ann Arbor is home to a number of museums. Located on the university's Central Campus are University of Michigan Museum of Natural History; the University of Michigan Museum of Art; the Kelsey Museum of Archaeology; ...
V31030, a coracoid from Late Pliocene
Rexroad Formation The Rexroad Formation is a geologic formation in Kansas. It preserves fossils dating back to the Neogene period. These fossils include two types of skunk ('' Spilogale rexroadi'' and '' Brachyprotoma breviramus''), a tree bat (''Lasiurus fossi ...
deposits of Kansas (USA), cannot be conclusively assigned to either the present genus or '' Bubo''. Extinct forms formerly in ''Strix'': * ''"Strix" antiqua'' – now in '' Prosybris'' * ''"Strix" brea'' - now '' Oraristrix brea'' * ''"Strix" brevis'' – now in '' Intutula'' * ''"Strix" collongensis'' – now in '' Alasio'' * ''"Strix" melitensis'' and ''"Strix" sanctialbani'' – now in ''
Tyto ''Tyto'' is a genus of birds consisting of true barn owls, grass owls and masked owls that collectively make up all the species within the subfamily Tytoninae of the barn owl family, Tytonidae. Taxonomy The genus ''Tyto'' was introduced in 1828 ...
'' * ''"Strix" murivora'' – male of the
Rodrigues scops owl 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 ext ...
* ''"Strix" newtoni'' and ''"Strix" sauzieri'' – male and female of the
Mauritius scops owl The extinct Mauritius scops owl (''Otus sauzieri''), also known as Mauritius owl, Mauritius lizard owl, Commerson's owl, Sauzier's owl, or Newton's owl, was endemic to the Mascarene island of Mauritius. It is known from a collection of subfos ...


References


Further reading

* Milne-Edwards, Alphonse (1869–1871)
''Recherches anatomiques et paléontologiques pour servir à l'histoire des oiseaux fossiles de la France''
(Vol. 2). G. Masson, Paris. * {{Taxonbar, from=Q241515 Bird genera Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus