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Late Pleistocene owls (Aves, Strigiformes) from Ecuador, with the description of a new species

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Abstract

The fossil record of owls of the families Strigidae and Tytonidae in South America is poor. The aim of the present contribution is to report for the first time fossil Strigiformes from Riobamba Canton, at Chimborazo province, in Ecuador. The specimens come from a large owl burrow from Late Pleistocene beds of the Cangagua Formation. We report the finding of fossil record of Athene cunicularia and Tyto aff. T. furcata and the first fossil record of Glaucidium from Ecuador. Further, a giant species of the genus Asio is described. The specimen constitutes the largest known asionine owl, being approximately of the size of a big female of Bubo virginianus. Based on prey content at the fossil burrow, it is possible that the new Asio species predated on the other owls. If this inference is correct, it may represent the first evidence indicating intra-ordinal predation in the fossil record.

Zusammenfassung

Eulenarten (Aves, Strigiformes) des Jungpleistozäns aus Ecuador, mit Beschreibung einer neuen Art

Es gibt wenige Fossilfunde von Eulenarten der Familie Strigidae und Tytonidae in Südamerika. Das Ziel dieses Beitrags ist es, zum ersten Mal über fossile Strigiformes aus dem Kanton Riobamba der Provinz Chimborazo, Ecuador zu berichten. Die Exemplare stammen aus einer großen Eulenhöhle aus den Schichten des Jungpleistozäns der Cangahua Formation. Wir berichten über die Fossilfunde von Athene cunicularia und Tyto aff. T. furcata sowie über den ersten Fossilfund von Glaucidium in Ecuador. Weiterhin beschreiben wir eine riesige Art der Gattung Asio. Dieses Exemplar stellt die größte bekannte Eulenart dieser Gattung dar, die in etwa die Größe vergleichbar mit einem weiblichen Virginiauhu Bubo virginianus hat. Basierend auf Beutefunde aus der fossilen Höhle, lässt sich vermuten, dass sich die neue Asio-Art von anderen Eulenarten ernährte. Falls diese Folgerung richtig sein sollte, könnte dies der erste fossile Nachweis für eine Prädation innerhalb der eigenen Ordnung sein.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Alejandro Mesías and Pablo Lara for their help during fieldwork. We thank Edith Montalvo (Ornithology curator, EPNV) and Yolanda Davis (Ornithology curator, MACN) and Sergio Bogan (Ornithology curator, Fundación de Historia Natural Félix de Azara) for access to osteological collections under their care. We are grateful to Fernando Novas for his support during the conduction of the present study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratorio de Anatomía Comparada y Evolución de los Vertebrados, Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales Bernardino Rivadavia, Av. Ángel Gallardo 470, C1405DJR, Buenos Aires, Argentina

    Gastón E. Lo Coco & Federico L. Agnolín

  2. Concejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas, Buenos Aires, Argentina

    Gastón E. Lo Coco & Federico L. Agnolín

  3. Departamento de Biología, Facultad de Ciencias, Escuela Politécnica Nacional, calle Ladrón de Guevara E11-253, Quito, Ecuador

    José Luis Román Carrión

  4. Fundación de Historia Natural “Félix de Azara”, Hidalgo 775, C1405BDB, Buenos Aires, Argentina

    Federico L. Agnolín

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  1. Gastón E. Lo Coco
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  2. Federico L. Agnolín
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  3. José Luis Román Carrión
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Correspondence to Gastón E. Lo Coco.

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Lo Coco, G.E., Agnolín, F.L. & Román Carrión, J.L. Late Pleistocene owls (Aves, Strigiformes) from Ecuador, with the description of a new species. J Ornithol 161, 713–721 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10336-020-01756-x

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