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A new barn owl (Aves: Strigidae) from the early Miocene of Germany, with comments on the fossil history of the Tytoninae

Eine neue Schleiereule (Aves: Strigidae) aus dem Untermiozän in Deutschland: mit Anmerkungen zur fossilen Geschichte der Tytoninae

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Summary

A previously unknown, very large barn owl,Basityto rummeli is described from the early Miocene of Grafenmühle 21 in Bavaria, Germany. This raises the number of tytonine genera known from the early Miocene to three.Necrobyas is known only from France,Prosybris from France and Austria, andBasityto so far only from Germany.

Further taxonomic conclusions are as follows:Palaeotyto cadurcensis Mourer-Chauviré,Palaeobyas cracrafti Mourer-Chauviré, andTyto edwardsi (Gaillard) are excluded from the Tytoninae. Six species are synonymized:Necrobyas rossignoli Milne-Edwards withNecrobyas harpax Milne-Edwards,Necrobyas edwardsi Gaillard withNecrobyas arvernensis (Milne-Edwards),Necrobyas minimus Mourer-Chauviré withProsybris antiqua (Milne-Edwards),Tyto campiterrae Jánossy withTyto sanctialbani (Lydekker),Tyto robusta Ballmann withTyto gigantea Ballmann, andTyto melitensis (Lydekker) withTyto alba (Scopoli).Necrobyas medius Mourer-Chauviré was transferred to the genusProsybris. In addition,Strix ignota “Milne-Edwards” andStrix ignota “Paris” emerge as not available for nomenclatural purposes.

Zusammenfassung

Eine neue, sehr große Schleiereule,Basityto rummeli, wird aus dem Untermiozän von Grafenmühle 21 in Bayern beschrieben. Damit ist die Anzahl der aus dem Untermiozän bekannten Schleiereulengattungen auf drei gestiegen.Necrobyas ist bisher nur aus Frankreich,Prosybris aus Frankreich und Österreich, undBasityto aus Bayern bekannt. Weitere taxonomische Ergebnisse sind wie folgt:Palaeotyto cadurcensis Mourer-Chauviré,Palaeobyas cracrafti Mourer-Chauviré undTyto edwardsi (Gaillard) wurden aus den Tytoninae entfernt. Sechs Arten wurden synonymisiert:Necrobyas rossignoli Milne-Edwards mitNecrobyas harpax Milne-Edwards,Necrobyas edwardsi Gaillard mitNecrobyas arvernensis (Milne-Edwards),Necrobyas minimus Mourer-Chauviré mitProsybris antiqua (Milne-Edwards),Tyto campiterrae Jánossy mitTyto sanctialbani (Lydekker),Tyto robusta Ballmann mitTyto gigantea Ballmann undTyto melitensis (Lydekker) mitTyto alba (Scopoli).Necrobyas medius Mourer-Chauviré wurde in die GattungProsybris überführt. Die NamenStrix ignota „Milne-Edwards“ undStrix ignota „Paris“ sind für nomenklatorische Zwecke nicht verfügbar.

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  1. Institute of Geology and Paleontology, Charles University, Albertov 6, CZ-128 43, Praha 2, Czech Republic

    Jiří Mlíkovský

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Mlíkovský, J. A new barn owl (Aves: Strigidae) from the early Miocene of Germany, with comments on the fossil history of the Tytoninae. J Ornithol 139, 247–261 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01653335

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