Otus

Rando, Juan Carlos, Pieper, Harald, Alcover, Josep Antoni & Olson, Storrs L., 2012, A new species of extinct fossil scops owl (Aves: Strigiformes: Strigidae: Otus) from the Archipelago of Madeira (North Atlantic Ocean), Zootaxa 3182, pp. 29-42 : 37

Otus cf. O. mauli

The Porto Santo Scops Owl ( Fig. 7 )

Due to fragmentation and poor preservation, it is impossible to refer the bones of Otus from Porto Santo to O. mauli with any degree of confidence. Nevertheless, as in the Madeiran Otus mauli , the wing bones are similar in size to O. scops , whereas the hindlimb bones are longer, roughly similar in size or slightly smaller than those of the Madeiran species. Thus, they clearly represent either Otus mauli or a close relative, and thus are listed here as Otus cf. mauli . The material from Porto Santo consists of (localities and collection dates indicated; Fig. 1 ): MMF 41646, damaged left ulna with the proximal end broken and the distal end slightly broken (Porto dos Frades, 21 Sep 1985); MMF 41647, left humerus with the proximal end broken and epicondylus dorsalis and condylus ventralis humeri slightly damaged (Fonte da Areia, 20 Sep 1985); DZUL 3056, fragment of diaphysis of a right tibiotarsus (Fonte da Areia, 20 Sep 1985); MMF 41648, left tarsometatarsus with distal articulation broken and crista medialis hypotarsi and crista hypotarsi broken (Porto dos Frades, 14 Apr 1984); MMF 41649, small proximal fragment of a left radius (Porto dos Frades, 21 Sep 1986); MMF 41650, right scapula with the acromion slightly eroded and the extremitas caudalis broken (Porto dos Frades, 22 Sep 1989); MMF 41651, fragment of diaphysis of a right humerus (Porto dos Frades, 18 May 1992).

Figures

FIGURE 1. Geographic situation of Macaronesia showing the archipelago of Madeira. The bones described in this paper were collected at Madeira (Ponta de São Lourenço) and Porto Santo (Fonte da Areia and Porto dos Frades). The main migratory pathways of Otus scops between Europe and Africa in western Mediterranean are shown (arrows).

FIGURE 7. Comparison of bones of Otus cf. mauli (A – C) from Porto Santo and O. scops, IMEDEA 2205 (A`– C`). (A, MMF 41651, A`) humeri, caudal view; (B, MMF 41646, B`) ulnae, ventral view; and (C, MMF 41648, C`) tarsometatarsi, dorsal view. Scale = 2 cm.