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A new species of extinct little owl from the Pleistocene of Mallorca (Balearic Islands)

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Abstract

Athene vallgornerensis nov.sp. (Aves: Strigiformes: Strigidae) from the Early Pleistocene of the island of Mallorca (Balearic Islands, Western Mediterranean) is described. The material came from a fossil assemblage obtained in a collapsed gallery from Cova des Pas de Vallgornera (Llucmajor, south of Mallorca), the longest karstic system currently known in the Balearics. Associated remains include primitive representatives of the insular endemic fauna of Mallorca (Myotragus, Hypnomys, Nesiotites), as well as fossils of bats, birds (among them, Tyto balearica), lizards and toads. Although only two bones of Athene have been obtained, its highly distinctive tarsometatarsus—short, highly robust and significantly small—differentiates it from the remaining extant and extinct Athene species from the Palaearctic, justifying its description as a new species. At least four insular species of Athene are now known from the Mediterranean area, and two groups can be identified according to the shape of their tarsometatarsi.

Zusammenfassung

Eine neue kleine, ausgestorbene Eulen-Art aus dem Pleistozän von der Insel Mallorca (Balearen)

In dieser Arbeit wird Athene vallgornerensis nov.sp. (Aves: Strigiformes: Strigidae) aus dem frühen Pleistozän von der Insel Mallorca (Balearen, westliches Mittelmeer) beschrieben. Das Material stammt von einer Fossilvergesellschaftung in einem zusammengefallenen Gang des Höhlensystems Cova des Pas de Vallgornera (Llucmajor, im Süden von Mallorca), dem ausgedehntesten bislang bekannten karstartigen Systems auf den Balearen. Weitere Funde in dieser fossilen Ansammlung konnten anderen primitiven Vertretern der endemischen Insel-Fauna zugeordnet werden (Myotragus, Hypnomys, Nesiotites), wie auch Überresten von Fledermäusen und Vögeln (darunter Tyto balearica), Eidechsen und Kröten. Obwohl nur zwei Knochen von Athene gefunden wurden, ermöglichen deren höchst eindeutiger kurzer, außergewöhnlich robuster und besonders kleiner Tarsometatarsus eine klare Unterscheidung von den anderen existierenden und ausgestorbenen Athene-Arten aus der Paläarktis und rechtfertigen deshalb die Beschreibung als neue Art. Damit sind jetzt mindestens vier Athene-Arten aus dem Mittelmeerraum bekannt, von denen zwei Gruppen anhand der Form ihrer Tarsometatarsi identifiziert werden können.

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Acknowledgments

Thanks are due to the Balearic Federation of Speleology (FBE) for its help in the excavation of Cova des Pas de Vallgornera and for the permission to publish the topographic survey of Fig. 1c. Mrs. Xana Villa (Oxford) reviewed the English of the manuscript. Carmen Guerra has a FPI grant from the Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (MICINN, Spain). Pere Bover has a contract JAE-DOC (CSIC) of the program “Junta para la Ampliación de Estudios”. This paper is included in the Project CGL2010-17889 of the Dirección General de Investigación (Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia, Spain).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institut Mediterrani d’Estudis Avançats, Cr Miquel Marquès 21, Esporles, 07190, Mallorca, Balearic Islands, Spain

    Carmen Guerra, Pere Bover & Josep Antoni Alcover

  2. Research Associate, Division of Vertebrate Zoology/Mammalogy Department, American Museum of Natural History, Central Park West at 79th Street, New York, NY, 10024, USA

    Pere Bover & Josep Antoni Alcover

Authors
  1. Carmen Guerra
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  2. Pere Bover
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  3. Josep Antoni Alcover
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Correspondence to Carmen Guerra.

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Communicated by F. Bairlein.

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Guerra, C., Bover, P. & Alcover, J.A. A new species of extinct little owl from the Pleistocene of Mallorca (Balearic Islands). J Ornithol 153, 347–354 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10336-011-0749-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10336-011-0749-3

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