Protostrigidae is a prehistoric family of owls which occurred in North America, Europe, and Asia during the Eocene and early Oligocene periods. Genera include '' Eostrix'', ''

Minerva Minerva (; ett, Menrva) is the Roman goddess of wisdom, justice, law, victory, and the sponsor of arts, trade, and strategy. Minerva is not a patron of violence such as Mars, but of strategic war. From the second century BC onward, the R ...

'', '' Oligostrix'', and '' Primoptynx.''''Primoptynx poliotauros'':
Gerald Mayr, Philip D. Gingerich, Thierry Smith
Skeleton of a new owl from the early Eocene of North America (Aves, Strigiformes) with an accipitrid-like foot morphology
in: Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, published online July 28, 2020; doi:10.1080/02724634.2020.1769116.
55-Million-Year-Old Fossil of Large-Sized Owl Found in Wyoming
on: sci-news, Jul 31, 2020. In 1983, Cécile Mourer-Chauviré demonstrated that ''Protostrix'' is a junior synonym of ''Minerva''. Protostrigidae characteristics include strong first and second toes as well as a widened medial condyle of the

tibiotarsus The tibiotarsus is the large bone between the femur and the tarsometatarsus in the leg of a bird. It is the fusion of the proximal part of the tarsus with the tibia. A similar structure also occurred in the Mesozoic Heterodontosauridae. These sm ...

References

Eocene birds of North America Eocene birds of Europe Eocene animals of Asia Prehistoric bird families {{Strigiformes-stub