''Ninox'' 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 n ...

of true owls comprising 36 species found in

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an ...

and

Australasia Australasia is a region that comprises Australia, New Zealand and some neighbouring islands in the Pacific Ocean. The term is used in a number of different contexts, including geopolitically, physiogeographically, philologically, and ecolo ...

. Many species are known as hawk-owls or boobooks, but the northern hawk-owl (''Surnia ulula'') is not a member of this genus.

Taxonomy

The genus was introduced by English naturalist

Brian Houghton Hodgson Brian Houghton Hodgson (1 February 1800 or more likely 1801 – 23 May 1894) was a pioneer naturalist and ethnologist working in India and Nepal where he was a British Resident. He described numerous species of birds and mammals from the Hi ...

in 1837 with 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 specimen( ...

as ''Ninox nipalensis'', a junior synonym of ''Strix lugubris'' Tickell 1833. ''Strix lugubris'' is now considered a subspecies of the

brown boobook The brown boobook (''Ninox scutulata''), also known as the brown hawk-owl, is an owl which is a resident breeder in south Asia from India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Nepal east to western Indonesia and south China. This species is a part of t ...

(''Ninox scutula lugubris''). NinoxFuscaSquamipilaKeulemans

Species

The genus contains 37 species: *† Laughing owl, '' Ninox albifacies'' (extinct) * Rufous owl, '' Ninox rufa'' * Powerful owl, '' Ninox strenua'' * Barking owl, '' Ninox connivens'' * Sumba boobook, '' Ninox rudolfi'' *

Australian boobook The Australian boobook (''Ninox boobook''), which is known in some regions as the mopoke, is a species of owl native to mainland Australia, southern New Guinea, the island of Timor, and the Sunda Islands. Described by John Latham in 1801, it wa ...

, ''Ninox boobook'' * Rote boobook ''Ninox rotiensis'' * Timor boobook ''Ninox fusca'' *

Alor boobook The Alor boobook (''Ninox plesseni'') is a species of owl in the family Strigidae. It is native to Pantar and Alor Island Alor ( id, Pulau Alor) is the largest island in the Alor Archipelago and is one of the 92 officially listed outly ...

, ''Ninox plesseni'' * Tasmanian boobook, ''Ninox leucopsis'' * Morepork, '' Ninox novaeseelandiae'' * Northern boobook, ''Ninox japonica'' *

Brown boobook The brown boobook (''Ninox scutulata''), also known as the brown hawk-owl, is an owl which is a resident breeder in south Asia from India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Nepal east to western Indonesia and south China. This species is a part of t ...

, '' Ninox scutulata'' *

Hume's boobook Hume's boobook or Hume's hawk-owl (''Ninox obscura'') is a species of owl in the family Strigidae endemic to the Andaman Islands The Andaman Islands () are an archipelago in the northeastern Indian Ocean about southwest off the coasts o ...

, '' Ninox obscura'' *

Chocolate boobook The chocolate boobook (''Ninox randi'') is a bird species in the true owl family, Strigidae. It was formerly considered to be a subspecies of the brown boobook. It is endemic to the Philippines, where it is found on all major islands except ...

, ''Ninox randi'' *

Andaman boobook The Andaman boobook or Andaman hawk-owl (''Ninox affinis'') is a species of owl in the family Strigidae. It is endemic to the Andaman Islands. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest and subtropical or tropical ...

, '' Ninox affinis'' * Philippine hawk-owl group ** Luzon boobook, ''Ninox philippensis'' ** Mindanao boobook, ''Ninox spilocephala'' ** Camiguin boobook, ''Ninox leventisi'' **

Sulu boobook The Sulu boobook or Sulu hawk-owl (''Ninox reyi'') is a species of owl in the family Strigidae. It is endemic to the Sulu Archipelago in the Philippines. It was previously known as a subspecies of the Philippine hawk-owl, but was reclassified ...

, ''Ninox reyi'' ** Cebu boobook, ''Ninox rumseyi'' **

Romblon boobook The Romblon boobook or Romblon hawk-owl (''Ninox spilonotus''), is a species of owl in the family Strigidae that is endemic to the Philippines. It is only found on the islands of Tablas, Sibuyan and Romblon. It was previously known as a sub ...

, ''Ninox spilonotus'' ** Mindoro boobook, ''Ninox mindorensis'' * Least boobook, ''Ninox sumbaensis'' *

Togian boobook The Togian boobook or Togian hawk-owl (''Ninox burhani'') is an owl (Strigidae) described as new to science in 2004. The bird is currently known only from three islands in the Togian group, an archipelago in the Gulf of Tomini off the coast of S ...

, ''Ninox burhani'' * Ochre-bellied boobook, '' Ninox ochracea'' * Cinnabar boobook, '' Ninox ios'' * Moluccan boobook group ** Halmahera boobook, ''Ninox hypogramma'' ** Buru boobook, ''Ninox hantu'' ** Seram boobook, ''Ninox squamipila'' ** Tanimbar boobook, ''Ninox forbesi'' *

Christmas boobook The Christmas boobook (''Ninox natalis''), also known more specifically as the Christmas Island hawk-owl, is a species of owl in the family Strigidae. Closely related to the hawk-owls of genus ''Ninox'', which occur in Southeast Asia and Austral ...

, '' Ninox natalis'' * Manus boobook, '' Ninox meeki'' * Papuan boobook, '' Ninox theomacha'' *

Speckled boobook The speckled boobook or speckled hawk owl (''Ninox punctulata''), also called the Oriental hawk-owl, is a small owl at . It is a reddish-brown hawk-owl with a white-spotted head, back and wings, a white throat patch, black facial disk, dark brow ...

, '' Ninox punctulata'' * New Britain boobook, '' Ninox odiosa'' * New Ireland boobook, '' Ninox variegata'' Genomic studies of the extinct laughing owl of

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 List of islands of New Zealand, smaller islands. It is the ...

indicate that it actually belongs in ''Ninox'' rather than the

monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unispec ...

genus ''Sceloglaux''. The

fossil 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 ...

owls ''"Otus" wintershofensis'' and ''"Strix" brevis'', both from the Early or Middle

Miocene The Miocene ( ) is the first geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about (Ma). The Miocene was named by Scottish geologist Charles Lyell; the name comes from the Greek words (', "less") and (', "new") and means "less recent" ...

of Wintershof, Germany, are close to this genus; the latter was sometimes explicitly placed in ''Ninox'' (Olson 1985), but is now in '' Intutula''. ''"Strix" edwardsi'' from the Late Miocene of La Grive St. Alban, France, might also belong into this group.

In human culture

*"NINOX" is an Australian Army project to develop

night-vision goggles A night-vision device (NVD), also known as a night optical/observation device (NOD), night-vision goggle (NVG), is an optoelectronic device that allows visualization of images in low levels of light, improving the user's night vision. The de ...

; it is named after ''Ninox strenua.''

References

*Olson, Storrs L. (1985): IX.C. Strigiformes. ''In:'' Farner, D.S.; King, J.R. & Parkes, Kenneth C. (eds.): ''Avian Biology'' 8: 129–132. Academic Press, New York.

Taxonomy

Species

In human culture

References

Further reading