The Torotoroka scops owl (''Otus rutilus madagascariensis'') is a subspecies of owl in the family Strigidae. It is endemic to the western parts of

Madagascar Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Africa ...

, and was previously regarded as its own species. However, ''O. madagascariensis'' and the rainforest scops owl ''Otus rutilus'' have now been re-lumped following Fuchs et al. (2007) as the

Madagascar scops owl The Madagascar scops owl (''Otus rutilus''), also known as the Malagasy scops owl or Rainforest scops owl, is a species of owl in the family Strigidae. It is found throughout Madagascar, now that is has recently been lumped with the Torotoroka s ...

or Malagasy scops owl. Therefore this taxon now becomes a subspecies, ''Otus rutilus madagascariensis.''

Description

It is very similar to the

rainforest scops owl The Madagascar scops owl (''Otus rutilus''), also known as the Malagasy scops owl or Rainforest scops owl, is a species of owl in the family Strigidae. It is found throughout Madagascar, now that is has recently been lumped with the Torotoroka s ...

''Otus rutilus'', and possibly indistinguishable from it. The two were formerly identified by different habitat preferences, with Torotoroka preferring drier habitats and Rainforest preferring wetter forests. Some small plumage and vocal differences were noted but minimal genetic divergence was found. Therefore, Clements has merged the two species.

Distribution and habitat

This taxon is endemic to the western parts of Madagascar. Its natural

habitat In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...

is subtropical or tropical dry

forest A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' ...

s, as well as man-made habitats such as parks, up to 2000m above sea level.

Taxonomy

The Torotoroka scops owl, the

Mayotte scops owl The Mayotte scops owl (''Otus mayottensis'') is a species of owl in the family Strigidae. It is endemic to the island of Mayotte in the Comoros. Taxonomy The Mayotte scops owl has been considered to be conspecific with the Pemba scops owl (''Ot ...

''Otus mayottensis'', the

Pemba scops owl The Pemba scops owl (''Otus pembaensis'') is a species of owl in the family Strigidae. It is endemic to Pemba Island which is part of and off the coast of Tanzania. Taxonomy The Pemba scops owl was formerly regarded as a subspecies of the Mada ...

''Otus pembaensis'' and the

''Otus rutilus'' have all previously been lumped as one species. The taxonomy is in a state of flux but recent genetic studies have placed the Pemba scops owl closer to the clade containing the

African scops owl The African scops owl (''Otus senegalensis'') is a small owl which is widespread in sub-Saharan Africa. Taxonomy William John Swainson first described the species in 1837 from a specimen collected in Senegal, and initially assigned it to the no ...

''Otus sengalensis'', while the Mayotte scops owl is clearly separate from the remaining two. The status of the rainforest and Torotoroka scops owls as separate species is debatable as there is very little genetic distance between the two taxa and subsequent studies have suggested that the plumage differences between ''O. rutilus'' and ''O. madagascariensis'' are small and that their voices intergrade. Therefore the rainforest and Torotoroka scops owls become subspecies under the new name Madagascar scops owl, taking the scientific name '' Otus rutilus''.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1266674 Torotoroka scops owl Endemic birds of Madagascar Owls of Madagascar Torotoroka scops owl Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Taxobox binomials not recognized by IUCN