A "cannibal" giant owl 40 thousand years old was found in Ecuador

[Judi Lynn]

Drawing of Asio ecuadoriensis. Illustration by Sebastián Rozadilla.


RIOBAMBA (CTYS-UNLAM AGENCY ).- Researchers from Argentina and Ecuador presented a new species of fossil owl that fed on various mammals and birds, particularly smaller owls. It was more than 70 centimeters height and a wingspan of over a meter and a half. It was found in the Ecuadorian Andes, at 2800 meters above sea level, being the first of its kind discovered in South America.

The discovery occurred in a small cave located in the Chimborazo province, in the geographic center of Ecuador. There, fossilized bones of micro-mammals, birds and, in particular, owls were found that had been the food of what appeared to be a great predator. To the paleontologists surprise, the great predator it was nothing more or less than a giant owl.

This new species exceeded 70 centimeters in height and was named Asio ecuadoriensis. Gastón Lo Coco, a researcher at the Laboratorio de Anatomía Comparada y Evolución de Vertebrados of the Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales (LACEV-MACN) and CONICET, described to the CTyS-UNLaM Agency that “the legs of the giant owl were long and thin, effective in capturing prey that is difficult to subdue”.

"One of its peculiarities is that, apparently, it had a predilection for consuming other smaller owls", said Dr. Federico Agnolin, co-author of the study published in the scientific journal Journal of Ornithology. And he added: "It is a biological rarity".

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Giant Predatory Owls Once Lived in Ecuador
Jul 22, 2020 by Enrico de Lazaro

Named Asio ecuadoriensis, the ancient bird was more than 70 cm (2.3 feet) tall and had a wingspan of over 1.5 m (4.9 feet).

It had longer and more robust legs than any other extant or extinct member of its genus Asio (typical or true owls).

“We think that the climate change that occurred about 10,000 years ago, when the Ice Age ended, was partly responsible for the extinction of these large predatory birds,” said co-author Dr. Federico Agnolin, a paleontologist with the Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales Bernardino Rivadavia, the Concejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas, and the Fundación de Historia Natural ‘Félix de Azara.’

The fossilized bones of Asio ecuadoriensis were collected from a small cave site Dr. Agnolin and colleagues interpreted as a fossil owl burrow.

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More:
http://www.sci-news.com/paleontology/asio-ecuadoriensis-08664.html

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