Biology:Mauritius scops owl
| Mauritius scops owl | |
|---|---|
| |
| Pencil drawing of a recently killed specimen by Paul Philippe Sanguin de Jossigny, from around 1770 | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Strigiformes |
| Family: | Strigidae |
| Genus: | Otus |
| Species: | †O. sauzieri
|
| Binomial name | |
| †Otus sauzieri (Newton & Gadow, 1893)
| |
| |
| Location of Mauritius where this species lived | |
| Synonyms | |
|
List
| |
The Mauritius scops owl (Otus sauzieri), also known as Mauritius owl, Mauritius lizard owl, Commerson's owl, Sauzier's owl, or Newton's owl, is an extinct species of scops owl that was endemic to the Mascarene island of Mauritius.
It is known from a collection of subfossil bones from the Mare aux Songes swamp, a detailed sketch made by de Jossigny in 1770, a no less detailed description by Desjardins of a bird shot in 1836, and a number of brief reports about owls, the first being those of Van Westzanen in 1602 and Matelief in 1606. Other names for the species include.
Taxonomy
No descriptions of owls were recorded between the mid-17th and the late 18th century. This led to considerable confusion, especially since the bones were referred to ear tuft-less Strix or barn owls, whereas the image and the description unequivocally show the presence of ear tufts. Thus, it was for a long time believed that 2 or even 3 species of owls occurred on the island.
The supposed "barn owl" Tyto newtoni was described from tarsometatarsus bones of what probably was a male individual of this species, whereas the Mauritius owl's type specimen seems to be a bone of a larger female bird. But the bird was neither a Strix nor a barn owl. Instead, the Mascarene owls of the genus Mascarenotus were most probably members of the scops owl lineage. The Mauritius bird was the largest species of its genus, with a total length of approximately 60 cm. Its scientific name honours Théodore Sauzier, who made the first bones available for scientific study.[2]
The French zoologist Julien Desjardins described a specimen in detail in 1837, which was published by the French zoologist Émile Oustalet in 1897. The specimen was lost from the Mauritius museum in the mid-1800s, apparently destroyed during a cyclone, and no skins of this species exist today.[3]
In 2018, a DNA study by Louchart and colleagues found that the Mascarenotus owls grouped among species of Otus (the scops owls), and therefore belonged to that genus. The cladogram below shows the placement of the Mauritius scops owl:[4]
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Description
Hume summarised Desjardin's detailed 1837 description of a specimen in 2017. It was a large owl at 42 cm long, with ears and featherless tarsi. The uppertparts were dark brown and the feathers of the head, neck and back had rufous edges. The tail was rufous-brown and was marbled with rufous. The wings were brown with irregular white, pale buff, and brown bands. The throat and sides of the body were whitish, while the rest of the undersides were dark buff with whitish spots.[5][3]
Behaviour and ecology
Hume suggested in 2013 that the large size and robust, long legs of the Mauritius scops owl were adaptations for preying on reptiles and small birds. He also stated the owl may have required large trees for nesting and roosting. Julien Tafforet had described similar behaviour for the Rodrigues scops owl in 1725–26.[6] A 2020 study of the inner ear of the Rodrigues scops owl suggested some level of terrestrialisation and sedentarisation, supported by the reduction of the wings in this and the other Mascarene owls.[7]
Many other endemic species of Mauritius and Réunion were lost after the arrival of humans, so that the ecosystems of these islands are severely damaged and hard to conserve. Before humans arrived, the islands were entirely covered in forests, very little of which remains today because of deforestation.[8] The surviving endemic fauna is still seriously threatened.[9][10] The Mauritius scops owl lived alongside other recently extinct Mauritian birds such as the dodo, the red rail, the Mauritius sheldgoose, the Mascarene teal, the broad-billed parrot, the Mascarene grey parakeet, the Mauritius blue pigeon, the Mascarene coot, and the Mauritius night heron. Extinct Mauritian reptiles include the saddle-backed Mauritius giant tortoise, the domed Mauritius giant tortoise, the Mauritian giant skink, and the Round Island burrowing boa. The small Mauritian flying fox and the snail Tropidophora carinata lived on Mauritius and Réunion but became extinct in both islands. Some plants, such as Casearia tinifolia and the palm orchid, have also become extinct.[3]
Extinction
The Mauritius scops owl was the largest carnivore on the island prior to human settlement. Thus, unlike other local species of birds, it was not much affected by the introduction of predators such as cats, rats, and crab-eating macaques. In the 1830s, the species seems to have been not uncommonly found in the southeastern part of the island, between Souillac and the Montagnes Bambous due east of Curepipe, with the last testimony of observations referring to several encounters in 1837. However, as the cultivation of sugarcane and tea encroached upon its habitat, combined with reckless shooting, it disappeared rapidly.[5]
Desjardins reported in 1837 that:
In September 1837 several inhabitants of the Savanne area told me they had seen owls in their forests; Dr Dobson, of the 99th Regiment, assured me he had killed one in the woods of Curepipe. It could well happen that in a few years, the species, if it is one, will have disappeared completely because of the destruction of our forests, and the large number of poachers who roam the woods that remain.[3]
In 1859, the naturalist George Clark wrote that the bird was extinct:[11]
A species of homed owl existed here as lately as the beginning of the century, and was tolerably plentiful in the woods, but I believe there are no more remaining. I have no means of ascertaining whether they were indigenous, or introduced from Madagascar, where a species which perfectly answers the description is plentiful, I incline to the latter opinion, believing it more likely that a few should have been introduced, and that they should after a time have been destroyed, than that an indigenous bird, which breeds as fast as the owl is known to do, should have disappeared. Mr. Dalais, who was an experienced hunter at the beginning of the present century, and who is still able to enjoy field sports, told me that he shot several in his youth; and from his description of them they must have been very much like the greater homed owl of England. The destruction of these birds is much to be regretted, as they would have done good service in helping to keep down the rats.
References
- ↑ BirdLife International. (2024). "Mascarenotus sauzieri". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2024. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2024-2.RLTS.T22728861A262285773.en. https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/22728861/262285773. Retrieved 28 May 2025.
- ↑ Newton, E.; Gadow, H. (1893). "On additional bones of the Dodo and other extinct birds of Mauritius obtained by Mr. Théodore Sauzier". The Transactions of the Zoological Society of London 13 (7): 281–302. doi:10.1111/j.1469-7998.1893.tb00001.x. https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/31083700#page/379/mode/1up.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Cheke, A. S.; Hume, J. P. (2008). Lost Land of the Dodo: an Ecological History of Mauritius, Réunion & Rodrigues. New Haven and London: T. & A. D. Poyser. pp. , 66. 185. ISBN 978-0-7136-6544-4.
- ↑ Louchart, Antoine; Bastian, Fabiola; Baptista, Marilia; Guarino-Vignon, Perle; Hume, Julian P.; Jacot-des-Combes, Cécile; Mourer-Chauviré, Cécile; Hänni, Catherine et al. (2018). "Ancient DNA reveals the origins, colonization histories, and evolutionary pathways of two recently extinct species of giant scops owl from Mauritius and Rodrigues Islands (Mascarene Islands, south-western Indian Ocean)". Journal of Biogeography 45 (12): 2678–2689. doi:10.1111/jbi.13450. Bibcode: 2018JBiog..45.2678L.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Hume, J. P. (2017). Extinct Birds (2 ed.). Croydon: Bloomsbury Natural History. pp. 224-225. ISBN 978-1-4729-3744-5.
- ↑ Hume, J. P. (2013). Göhlich, U. B.. ed. "A synopsis of the pre-human avifauna of the Mascarene Islands". Proceedings of the 8th International Meeting of Society of Avian Paleontology and Evolution: 195–237. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/298715306.
- ↑ Duhamel, Anaïs; Hume, Julian P.; Guenser, Pauline; Salaviale, Céline; Louchart, Antoine (2020). "Cranial evolution in the extinct Rodrigues Island owl Otus murivorus (Strigidae), associated with unexpected ecological adaptations". Scientific Reports 10 (1). doi:10.1038/s41598-020-69868-1.
- ↑ Cheke, A. S. (1987). "The legacy of the dodo—conservation in Mauritius". Oryx 21 (1): 29–36. doi:10.1017/S0030605300020457.
- ↑ Temple, S. A. (1974). "Wildlife in Mauritius today". Oryx 12 (5): 584–590. doi:10.1017/S0030605300012643.
- ↑ Safford, R. J.; Jones, C. G. (1998). "Strategies for land‐bird conservation on Mauritius". Conservation Biology 12 (1): 169–176. doi:10.1111/j.1523-1739.1998.96177.x.
- ↑ Clark, George (1859). "A ramble round Mauritius with some excursions into the interior of that island; to which is added a familiar description of its fauna and some subjects of its flora". The Mauritius Register: Historical, official & commercial, corrected to the 30th June 1959. Port Loui: L.Channell. p. 77. https://archive.org/details/mauritiusregist01clargoog/page/n88/mode/2up?q=owl.
Wikidata ☰ Q616205 entry
 |  |
