''Tyto'' is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nom ...

of birds consisting of true barn owls, grass owls and masked owls that collectively make up all the species within the subfamily Tytoninae of the barn owl

family Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...

Tytonidae Barn-owls (family Tytonidae) are one of the two families of owls, the other being the true owls or typical owls, Strigidae. They are medium to large owls with large heads and characteristic heart-shaped faces. They have long, strong legs wit ...

Taxonomy

The genus ''Tyto'' was introduced in 1828 by the Swedish naturalist

Gustaf Johan Billberg Gustaf Johan Billberg (14 June 1772, Karlskrona – 26 November 1844, Stockholm) was a Swedish botanist, zoologist and anatomist, although professionally and by training he was a lawyer and used science and biology as an avocation. The plant g ...

with the

western barn owl The western barn owl (''Tyto alba'') is usually considered a subspecies group and together with the American barn owl group, the eastern barn owl group, and sometimes the Andaman masked owl make up the barn owl. The cosmopolitan barn owl is re ...

as 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 specime ...

. The name is from the

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic p ...

''tutō'' meaning "owl". The barn owl (''Tyto alba'') was formerly considered to have a global distribution with around 28 subspecies. In the list of birds maintained by

Frank Gill Frank Gill may refer to: * Frank Gill (Australian footballer) (1908–1970), Australian rules footballer with Carlton * Frank Gill (footballer, born 1948), footballer for Tranmere Rovers *Frank Gill (politician) (1917–1982), New Zealand politicia ...

Pamela Rasmussen Pamela Cecile Rasmussen (born October 16, 1959) is an American ornithologist and expert on Asian birds. She was formerly a research associate at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., and is based at the Michigan State University. Sh ...

and David Donsker on behalf of the

International Ornithological Committee The International Ornithologists' Union, formerly known as the International Ornithological Committee, is a group of about 200 international ornithologists, and is responsible for the International Ornithological Congress and other international ...

(IOC) the barn owl is now split into four species: the

(''Tyto alba'') (10 subspecies), the

American barn owl The American barn owl (''Tyto furcata'') is usually considered a subspecies group and together with the western barn owl group, the eastern barn owl group, and sometimes the Andaman masked owl, make up the barn owl, cosmopolitan in range. The ba ...

(''Tyto furcata'') (12 subspecies), the

eastern barn owl The eastern barn owl (''Tyto javanica'') is usually considered a subspecies group and together with the American barn owl group, the western barn owl group, and sometimes the Andaman masked owl make up the barn owl. The cosmopolitan barn owl i ...

(''Tyto javanica'') (7 subspecies) and the

Andaman masked owl The Andaman masked owl (''Tyto deroepstorffi'') is a barn owl endemic to the southern Andaman Islands, an archipelago between India and Myanmar, in the Bay of Bengal.Bruce, M.D., Christie, D.A., Kirwan, G.M. & Marks, J.S. (2017). Common Barn-ow ...

(''Tyto deroepstorffi''). This arrangement is followed here. Some support for this split was provided by a molecular phylogenetic study by Vera Uva and collaborators published in 2018 that compared the DNA sequences of three mitochondrial and one nuclear loci. This split has not been adopted by other taxonomic authorities such as the Clements Checklist of Birds of the World maintained by members of Cornell University or by the list maintained by BirdLife International that is used by the

International Union for Conservation of Nature The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of nat ...

. The cladogram below is based on the 2018 phylogenetic study. The

(''Tyto deroepstorffi'') was not sampled. The

Manus masked owl The Manus masked owl (''Tyto manusi'') is a barn owl endemic to Manus Island in the Admiralty Islands. Some authors consider it a subspecies of Australian masked owl ''(Tyto novaehollandiae)''. It is a poorly known forest-dwelling species, whic ...

(''Tyto manusi'') was embedded in a clade with subspecies of the Australian masked owl. Throughout their evolutionary history, ''Tyto'' owls have shown a better capability to colonize islands than other owls. Several such island forms have become extinct, some long ago, but some in comparatively recent times. A number of insular barn owls from the Mediterranean and the Caribbean were very large or truly gigantic species.

Extant species

Seventeen species are recognized:

Extinct species

;Known from ancient fossils: * ''Tyto sanctialbani'' (Middle - Late Miocene of Central Europe) - formerly in ''Strix (genus), Strix''; includes ''T. campiterrae'' * ''Tyto robusta'' (Late Miocene/Early Pliocene of the Gargano Peninsula, Italy) * ''Tyto gigantea'' (Late Miocene/Early Pliocene of the Gargano Peninsula, Italy) * ''Tyto balearica'' (Late Miocene - Middle Pleistocene of the west-central Mediterranean) * ''Tyto mourerchauvireae'' (Middle Pleistocene of Sicily, Mediterranean) * ''Tyto jinniushanensis'' (Pleistocene of Jing Niu Shan, China) *''Tyto maniola'' – Cuban Dwarf Barn Owl (Late Pleistocene of Cuba) * ''Tyto'' sp. 1 * ''Tyto'' sp. 2 ;Late prehistoric extinctions usually known from subfossil remains: Tyto cavatica

* Mussau barn owl (''Tyto'' cf. ''novaehollandiae'') found in MussauSteadman (2006) * New Ireland greater barn owl (''Tyto'' cf. ''novaehollandiae'') found in New Ireland (island), New Ireland * New Ireland lesser barn owl (''Tyto'' cf. ''alba/aurantiaca'') found in New Ireland * New Caledonian barn owl (''Tyto letocarti'') found in New Caledonia - tentatively placed here * Puerto Rican barn owl (''Tyto cavatica'') found in Puerto Rico - may still have existed up to 1912; possibly a subspecies of the ashy-faced owl (''Tyto glaucops'') * Noel's barn owl (''Tyto noeli'') found in Cuba * Rivero's barn owl (''Tyto riveroi'') found in Cuba * Cuban barn owl (''Tyto'' sp.) found in Cuba * Hispaniolan barn owl (''Tyto ostologa'') found in Hispaniola * Bahaman barn owl (''Tyto pollens'') found in Little Exuma, New Providence, and maybe Andros Island, the Bahamas - may have survived into the 16th century * Barbuda barn owl (''Tyto neddi'') found in Barbuda and possibly Antigua * Maltese barn owl (''Tyto melitensis'') found in Malta - formerly in ''Strix (genus), Strix''; possibly a paleosubspecies of ''Tyto alba''

Former species

A number of owl fossils were at one time assigned to the present genus, but are nowadays placed elsewhere. While there are clear differences in osteology between typical owls and barn owls, there has been parallel evolution to some degree and thus isolated fossil bones cannot necessarily be assigned to either family without thorough study. Notably, the genus ''Strix (genus), Strix'' has been misapplied by many early scientists as a "wastebasket taxon" for many owls, including ''Tyto''. * ''Tyto antiqua'' (Late Eocene/Early Oligocene of Quercy? - Early Miocene of France) was a barn owl of the prehistoric genus ''Prosybris''; this taxon might be a ''nomen nudum'', as the species was originally described in ''Strix'', this requires confirmation * ''Tyto edwardsi'' (Late Miocene of Grive-Saint-Alban, France) was a strigid owl, but has not yet been reliably identified to a genus; it might belong in ''Strix'' or the European ''Ninox''-like group. * ''Tyto ignota'' (Middle Miocene of Sansan, France) was a strigid owl of unclear affinities; while it might belong into ''Strix'', this requires confirmationMlíkovský (2002) * "TMT 164", a distal left tarsometatarsus of a supposed ''Tyto'' from the Middle Miocene Grive-Saint-Alban (France); might also belong in ''Prosybris'', as it is similar to ''Tyto antiqua''Ballmann (1969)

Description

They are darker on the back than the front, usually an orange-brown colour, the front being a paler version of the back or mottled, although there is considerable variation even amongst species. ''Tyto'' owls have a divided, heart-shaped facial disc, and lack the ear-like tufts of feathers found in many other owls. ''Tyto'' owls tend to be larger than bay owls. The name ''tyto (τυτώ)'' is onomatopeic Greek for owl.

Footnotes

References

* Ballmann, Peter (1969). Les Oiseaux miocènes de la Grive-Saint-Alban (Isère) [The Miocene birds of Grive-Saint-Alban (Isère)]. ''Geobios'' 2: 157–204. [French with English abstract] (HTML abstract) * Bruce, M.D. (1999). Family Tytonidae (Barn-owls). ''In:'' del Hoyo, J.; Elliott, A. & Sargatal, J. (eds): ''Handbook of Birds of the World'' Vol. 5 (Barn-owls to Hummingbirds): 34–75, plates 1–3. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona. * Mlíkovský, Jirí (2002). ''Cenozoic Birds of the World, Part 1: Europe''. Ninox Press, Prague. PDF fulltext
* Storrs Olson, Olson, Storrs L. (1985). Section IX.C. Strigiformes. ''In:'' Farner, D.S.; King, J.R. & Parkes, Kenneth C. (eds.): ''Avian Biology'' 8: 129–132. Academic Press, New York. * Steadman, David William (2006). ''Extinction and Biogeography of Tropical Pacific Birds''. University of Chicago Press. .

External links

* * {{Taxonbar, from=Q375716 Tyto, Bird genera Extant Miocene first appearances