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

LO COCO, GASTÓN E.; AGNOLÍN, FEDERICO L.; ROMÁN CARRIÓN, JOSÉ LUIS

Journal of Ornithology

JO

Año: 2020 vol. 161 p. 713 - 721

2193-7192

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 frst time fossil Strigiformes from Riobamba Canton, at Chimborazo province, in Ecuador. Thespecimens come from a large owl burrow from Late Pleistocene beds of the Cangagua Formation. We report the fnding offossil record of Athene cunicularia and Tyto af. T. furcata and the frst fossil record of Glaucidium from Ecuador. Further, agiant species of the genus Asio is described. The specimen constitutes the largest known asionine owl, being approximatelyof the size of a big female of Bubo virginianus. Based on prey content at the fossil burrow, it is possible that the new Asiospecies predated on the other owls. If this inference is correct, it may represent the frst evidence indicating intra-ordinalpredation in the fossil record