Strigidae, Ridgway, 1914

Pavia, Marco, Manegold, Albrecht & Haarhoff, Pippa, 2015, New early Pliocene owls from Langebaanweg, South Africa, with first evidence of Athene south of the Sahara and a new species of Tyto, Acta Palaeontologica Polonica 60 (4), pp. 815-828 : 824

Strigidae gen. et sp. indet.

Fig. 3B .

Material. —Left tibiotarsus, SAM-PQ-L28479 C, distal end from Langeberg Quartz Sand Member or Muishond Fontein Pelletal Phosphorite Member of the Upper Varswater Formation at Langebaanweg, early Pliocene of South Africa.

Measurements. —Distal width 8.0 mm; distal depth 6.5 mm.

Remarks. —The distal tibiotarsus is similar in size to At. inexpectata sp. nov., but can be distinguished from Athene by its wider epicondylus medialis and wider condylus medialis. It further differs from Asio , Otus , and Ptilopsis by a differently shaped condylus medialis and a distally very deep sulcus extensorius. This tibiotarsus thus indicates the presence of another small species of Strigidae at Langebaanweg, but due to its fragmentary preservation, it cannot be referred to any taxon of owl below the family level.

Figures

Fig. 3. Strigid owls from the early Pliocene, Upper Varswater Formation at Langebaanweg, South Africa. A. Asio sp. (SAM-PQ-L33521 I), right tibiotarsus, in cranial (A 1), lateral (A 2), caudal (A 3), medial (A 4), and distal (A 5) views. B. Strigidae gen. et sp. indet. (SAM-PQ-L28479 C), left tibiotarsus in cranial view. C. Bubo sp. (SAM-PQ-L28439 C), left tibiotarsus in cranial view.