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The American (North and South America) horned owls and the Old World eagle-owls make up the genus Bubo, at least as traditionally described. The genus name Bubo is Latin for owl. Its name in Russian Template:Lang-for is one of the few native Russian words containing the letter Ф.
This genus contains 10 species that are found in many parts of the world. Some of the largest living Strigiformes are in Bubo. Traditionally, only owls with ear-tufts were included in this genus, but that is no longer the case.
TaxonomyEdit
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The genus Bubo was introduced in 1805 by the French zoologist André Duméril for the horned owls.<ref>Template:Cite book The book bears the date of 1806 on the title page but was actually published in 1805. See: Template:Cite journal</ref> The type species is the Eurasian eagle-owl.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> The word bubo is Latin for the Eurasian eagle owl and was used as the specific epithet for the species by Carl Linnaeus in 1758.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
A molecular phylogenetic study published in 2020 found that species in the genera Scotopelia and Ketupa were embedded within the clade containing members of the genus Bubo making the genus Bubo paraphyletic. To create monophyletic genera, nine species were moved from Bubo to Ketupa.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref name=ioc>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
SpeciesEdit
The genus contains 10 extant species:<ref name=ioc/>
- Snowy owl, Bubo scandiacus
- Great horned owl, Bubo virginianus
- Lesser horned owl, Bubo magellanicus
- Eurasian eagle-owl, Bubo bubo
- Indian eagle-owl, Bubo bengalensis
- Pharaoh eagle-owl, Bubo ascalaphus
- Cape eagle-owl, Bubo capensis
- Arabian eagle-owl, Bubo milesi
- Greyish eagle-owl, Bubo cinerascens
- Spotted eagle-owl, Bubo africanus
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Sometimes included in this genus:
- Verreaux's eagle-owl, Ketupa lactea
- Spot-bellied eagle-owl, Ketupa nipalensis
- Barred eagle-owl,Ketupa sumatrana
- Fraser's eagle-owl,Ketupa poensis
- Akun eagle-owl, Ketupa leucosticta
- Philippine eagle-owl, Ketupa philippensis
- Dusky eagle-owl, Ketupa coromanda
- Shelley's eagle-owl, Ketupa shelleyi
- Blakiston's fish owl, Ketupa blakistoni
- Brown fish owl, Ketupa zeylonensis
- Tawny fish owl, Ketupa flavipes
- Buffy fish owl, Ketupa ketupu
- Pel's fishing owl, Scotopelia peli
- Rufous fishing owl, Scotopelia ussheri
- Vermiculated fishing owl, Scotopelia bouvieri
Fossil recordEdit
Named and distinct Bubo species are:
- Bubo florianae (Late MioceneTemplate:Verify source of Csákvár, Hungary, tentatively placed here)
- Bubo leakeyae (Early Pleistocene of Tanzania)
- Bubo binagadensis (Late Pleistocene of Binagady, Azerbaijan)
- Bubo osvaldoi (Pleistocene of Cuba)<ref>Template:Cite journalTemplate:Dead link</ref>
- Bubo insularis (Pleistocene of Sardinia)
Some notable undescribed fossils of prehistoric horned owls, usually quite fragmentary remains, have also been recorded:
- Bubo sp. (Late Pliocene of Senèze, France)<ref>Lambrecht (1933): p. 616</ref>
- Bubo sp. (Late Pliocene of Rębielice Królewskie, Poland; tentatively placed here)<ref>Mlíkovský (2002)</ref>
- Bubo sp. (Late Pleistocene of San Josecito Cavern, Mexico)<ref>A single bone of a large horned owl distinct from B. virginianus: Steadman et al. (1994)</ref>
Specimen UMMP V31030, a Late Pliocene coracoid from the Rexroad Formation of Kansas (U.S.), cannot be conclusively assigned to either Bubo or Strix. This fossil is from a taxon similar in size to the great horned owl (B. virginianus) or the great grey owl (S. nebulosa).<ref>Feduccia (1970)</ref>
The Sinclair owl (Bubo sinclairi) from Late Pleistocene California may have been a paleosubspecies of the great horned owl,<ref>Howard (1947)</ref> while the roughly contemporary Bubo insularis of the central and eastern Mediterranean has been considered a junior synonym of a brown fish owl paleosubspecies.<ref>Mlíkovský (2002, 2003)</ref> Additional paleosubspecies are discussed on the appropriate species page.
Several presumed Bubo fossils have turned out to be from different birds. The Late Eocene/Early Oligocene eared owls "Bubo" incertus and "Bubo" arvernensis are now placed in the fossil barn owl genera Nocturnavis and Necrobyas, respectively. "Bubo" leptosteus is now recognized as primitive owl in the genus Minerva (formerly Protostrix). "Bubo" poirreiri from the Late Oligocene or Early Miocene of Saint-Gérard-le-Puy in France, is now placed in Mioglaux.
On the other hand, the supposed fossil heron "Ardea" lignitum from the Late Pliocene of Plaue-Rippersroda (Germany) was apparently an owl and close to Bubo or more probably actually belongs here. Given its age – about 2 million years ago or so – it is usually included in the Eurasian eagle-owl today.<ref>Olson (1985): p. 167, Mlíkovský (2002)</ref>
Interactions with humansEdit
Because of their nocturnal habits, most owls do not directly interact with humans. However, in 2015, an eagle owl in Purmerend, Netherlands, attacked some 50 people before it was caught by a hired falconer.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
FootnotesEdit
ReferencesEdit
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- König, Claus; Weick, Friedhelm & Becking, Jan-Hendrik (1999): Owls: A guide to the owls of the world. Yale University Press, New Haven. Template:ISBN
- Lambrecht, Kálmán (1933): Handbuch der Palaeornithologie [Handbook of Paleornithology]. Gebrüder Bornträger, Berlin. [in German]
- Mlíkovský, Jiří (2002): Cenozoic Birds of the World, Part 1: Europe. Ninox Press, Prague.
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- Olson, Storrs L. (1985): The fossil record of birds. In: Farner, D.S.; King, J.R. & Parkes, Kenneth C. (eds.): Avian Biology 8: 79–238. Academic Press, New York.
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External linksEdit
Template:Strigiformes Template:Taxonbar Template:Authority control