Tyto Billberg, 1828

Mourer-Chauviré, Cécile & Geraads, Denis, 2010, The Upper Pliocene Avifauna of Ahl al Oughlam, Morocco. Systematics and Biogeography, Records of the Australian Museum 62 (1), pp. 157-184 : 178-179

Genus Tyto Billberg, 1828

Tyto balearica Mourer-Chauviré, Alcover, Moya & Pons, 1980

Fig. 5R–S

Material. Left humerus, proximal part, AaO-4805; left ulnae, proximal parts, AaO-4794, 4806; left radii, distal parts, AaO-852, 2686; right carpometacarpus, almost complete, AaO-2684; left carpometacarpus, distal part, AaO-2685; right tibiotarsus, distal part, AaO-2698; left tibiotarsi, distal parts, AaO-4807, 4808.

Measurements (in mm): humerus, proximal width, ca. 17.0; proximal depth, 9.8. Ulnae, proximal width, 9.9 and 10.1. Radii, least width of shaft, 2.8 and ca. 2.9. Carpometacarpus, total length, est. 48.5. Tibiotarsi, distal width, 10.7 and 11.2.

The dimensions of these elements are clearly larger than those of the Recent Tyto alba and they are either included in the size-variation of the extinct species T. balearica , or are close to them (Mourer-Chauviré & Sánchez-Marco, 1988; Louchart, 2002). Tyto balearica was described from three insular localities of the Balearics ( Mourer-Chauviré et al., 1980), then was found again in several continental localities of Spain and the south of France, where it is present until the Plio-Pleistocene boundary (summary statement in Sánchez-Marco, 2001). It has also been found in the Middle Pleistocene of Corsica and Sardinia where it is represented by a particular subspecies, T. balearica cyrneichnusae (summary statement in Louchart, 2002). On the other hand, the remains from the upper Miocene of Aljezar B ( MN 12) (Cheneval & Adrover, 1993), of Valdecebro ( MN 12) ( Sánchez-Marco, 2001), and some remains from the Mio- Pliocene of Gargano referred by Mlíkovský (1998b) to T. balearica , do not belong to this species ( Louchart, 2002).

Tyto balearica is thus known during a time span extending from the Early Pliocene ( MN 15) to the Middle Pleistocene. In all these localities it does not coexist with Tyto alba . The only locality where T. balearica is found together with another species of the genus Tyto is the Middle Pleistocene locality of Castiglione 3 CG, in Corsica, where an indeterminate species of Tyto is represented by a pedal phalange ( Louchart, 2002).

Figures

Figure 5. Otis sp. size Otis tarda, A–B: (A) right ulna, proximal part, AaO-766, cranial view: (B) right ulna, distal part, AaO-767, ventral view.Chlamydotis sp. cf. C. mesetaria, C–E: (C) right tarsometatarsus, proximal part and shaft,AaO-2644, caudal view; (D) idem, cranial view; (E) idem, proximal view. cf. Lophotis sp., F–G: (F) right coracoid, almost complete,AaO-768, dorsal view; (G) idem, ventral view. (H) Columba sp. cf. C. pisana, right humerus, distal part and shaft,AaO-2672, cranial view. (I) Catharacta sp. cf. C. skua, right humerus, distal part and shaft, AaO-4793, cranial view. … [caption continued on facing page]