''Athene'' is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

of owls, containing nine living

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

, depending on classification. These birds are small, with brown and white speckles, yellow eyes, and white eyebrows. This genus is found on all continents except for

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

Antarctica Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean, it contains the geographic South Pole. Antarctica is the fifth-largest contine ...

, and

Sub-Saharan Africa Sub-Saharan Africa is, geographically, the area and regions of the continent of Africa that lies south of the Sahara. These include West Africa, East Africa, Central Africa, and Southern Africa. Geopolitically, in addition to the List of sov ...

. An evolutionary radiation of 4 species (formerly thought to be in the genus '' Ninox'') is also present in the

Solomon Islands Solomon Islands is an island country consisting of six major islands and over 900 smaller islands in Oceania, to the east of Papua New Guinea and north-west of Vanuatu. It has a land area of , and a population of approx. 700,000. Its capita ...

Taxonomy and list of species

The genus ''Athene'' was introduced by the German zoologist Friedrich Boie in 1822. The

type species In zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the species that contains the biological type specimen ...

was designated as the

little owl The little owl (''Athene noctua''), also known as the owl of Athena or owl of Minerva, is a bird that inhabits much of the temperate and warmer parts of Europe, the Palearctic east to Korea, and North Africa. It was introduced into Britain at ...

(''Athene noctua'') by the English zoologist George Robert Gray in 1841. The genus name is from the little owl which was closely associated with the Greek goddess

Athena Athena or Athene, often given the epithet Pallas, is an ancient Greek goddess associated with wisdom, warfare, and handicraft who was later syncretized with the Roman goddess Minerva. Athena was regarded as the patron and protectress of ...

, and often depicted with her. Her original role as a goddess of the night might explain the link to an owl. The genus contains the following nine species. The forest owlet was formerly placed in the monotypic genus '' Heteroglaux'', and the Solomon Islands radiation was formerly placed in the genus '' Ninox'' with the other owls referred to as "boobooks" until taxonomic studies found them to group in ''Athene''.

Extinct species and subspecies

A number of mainly

island An island (or isle) is an isolated piece of habitat that is surrounded by a dramatically different habitat, such as water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, skerries, cays or keys. An island ...

representatives of this genus are only known from

fossil A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved ...

subfossil A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved in ...

remains: *''

Athene megalopeza Athena or Athene, often given the epithet Pallas, is an ancient Greek goddess associated with wisdom, warfare, and handicraft who was later syncretized with the Roman goddess Minerva. Athena was regarded as the patron and protectress of va ...

'' (

; Rexroad Late Pliocene of west-central U.S.) - sometimes placed in ''Speotyto'' *''

Athene veta Athena or Athene, often given the epithet Pallas, is an ancient Greek goddess associated with wisdom, warfare, and handicraft who was later syncretized with the Roman goddess Minerva. Athena was regarded as the patron and protectress of va ...

'' (

; Early

Pleistocene The Pleistocene ( , often referred to as the ''Ice age'') is the geological Epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from about 2,580,000 to 11,700 years ago, spanning the Earth's most recent period of repeated glaciations. Before a change was fina ...

of Rebielice, Poland) *''

Athene angelis Athena or Athene, often given the epithet Pallas, is an ancient Greek goddess associated with wisdom, warfare, and handicraft who was later syncretized with the Roman goddess Minerva. Athena was regarded as the patron and protectress of ...

'' (fossil; Middle - Late Pleistocene of Castiglione, Corsica) *''

Athene trinacriae Athena or Athene, often given the epithet Pallas, is an ancient Greek goddess associated with wisdom, warfare, and handicraft who was later syncretized with the Roman goddess Minerva. Athena was regarded as the patron and protectress of va ...

'' (Pleistocene) *''Athene'' cf. ''cunicularia'' (fossil; Pleistocene of Barbuda, West Indies) - sometimes placed in ''Speotyto'' *''Athene'' cf. ''cunicularia'' (fossil; Pleistocene of the Cayman Islands, West Indies) - sometimes placed in ''Speotyto'' *''Athene'' cf. ''cunicularia'' (fossil; Pleistocene of Jamaica, West Indies) - sometimes placed in ''Speotyto'' *''Athene'' cf. ''cunicularia'' (fossil; Pleistocene of Mona Island, West Indies) - sometimes placed in ''Speotyto'' *''Athene'' cf. ''cunicularia'' (fossil; Pleistocene of Puerto Rico, West Indies) - sometimes placed in ''Speotyto'' *

Cretan owl The Cretan owl (''Athene cretensis'') is an extinct species of owl from the Pleistocene of the island of Crete, in the eastern Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean B ...

(''Athene cretensis'') (

prehistoric Prehistory, also known as pre-literary history, is the period of human history between the use of the first stone tools by hominins 3.3 million years ago and the beginning of recorded history with the invention of writing systems. The use of ...

; Crete, Mediterranean) Candiacervus ropalophorus

The Cretan owl was a flightless or near-flightless form that was more than 50 cm (almost 2 ft) tall. It went

extinct Extinction is the termination of a kind of organism or of a group of kinds (taxon), usually a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed and ...

soon after the island of Crete became inhabited by humans.

Late Miocene The Late Miocene (also known as Upper Miocene) is a sub-epoch of the Miocene epoch (geology), Epoch made up of two faunal stage, stages. The Tortonian and Messinian stages comprise the Late Miocene sub-epoch, which lasted from 11.63 Ma (million ye ...

(about 11 mya) fossil remains from

Rudabánya Rudabánya is a town in Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén county, Hungary. The town territory was the location of the discovery of a hominid from 12 million years ago, '' Dryopithecus brancoi'' (1969). International relations Rudabánya is twinned with: ...

(NE Hungary) have been tentatively assigned to this genus.Bernor, R.L.; Kordos, L. & Rook, L. (eds):
Recent Advances on Multidisciplinary Research at Rudabánya, Late Miocene (MN9), Hungary: A compendium.
" ''Paleontographica Italiana'' 89: 3-36. Considering the known fossil range of ''Athene'' and the misassignments of many Miocene strigids from Europe, it may be a

basal Basal or basilar is a term meaning ''base'', ''bottom'', or ''minimum''. Science * Basal (anatomy), an anatomical term of location for features associated with the base of an organism or structure * Basal (medicine), a minimal level that is nec ...

member of the present genus or not belong here at all. The supposed species ''"Athene" murivora'' was the name given to subfossil bones of male

Rodrigues scops owl The Rodrigues scops owl (''Otus murivorus''), also known as Rodrigues owl, Rodrigues lizard owl, Leguat's owl, or (somewhat misleadingly) Rodrigues little owl, was a small owl. It lived on the Mascarene island of Rodrigues, but it is nowadays e ...

s. ** Antiguan burrowing owl (''Athene cunicularia amaura'') - extinct (c. 1905) ** Guadeloupe burrowing owl (''Athene cunicularia guadeloupensis'') - extinct (c. 1890)

References

Bird genera {{Strigiformes-stub