Tyto gigantea
| Tyto gigantea | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Tyto gigantea | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Strigiformes |
| Family: | Tytonidae |
| Genus: | Tyto |
| Species: | T. gigantea |
| Binomial name | |
| Tyto gigantea Ballmann, 1973 | |
Tyto gigantea is an extinct barn owl from what is now Gargano, Italy, dating back to the late Miocene. From its remains, T. gigantea is suggested to have been as large as or larger than the Eurasian eagle-owl (Bubo bubo).
Tibiotarsus of Tyto gigantea.
This species seems to have happened to a species of closely related owl, Tyto robusta that also lived on the island, and that would represent a single lineage of owls adapting to the largest size of their prey on the island, such as the great erinaceomorph of Gargano, Deinogalerix, and rodents.[1]
References
- ↑ Mlíkovský, J. (1998). A new barn owl (Aves: Strigidae) from the early Miocene of Germany, with comments on the fossil history of the Tytoninae. Journal für Ornithologie, 139(3), 247-261.
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