As everyone knows, there is an expression, "the wise old owl". People may debate
about how wise the owl is, but there is no doubt that the owl is old. Owls have
existed as far back as 60 million years ago, which was during the Paleocene
period. In the phospherite deposits of Qwercy, France, Paleocene-Eocene fossils
of 6 genera of the Tytonidae family of owls have been found. Paleontologists
have unearthed 41 extinct species of owls from the Miocene and Oligocene
deposits. They are:

11 Tytonidae
5 Protostrigidae
25 Strigidae

The earliest recognizable fossil of the Strigidae family of owls has been found
in the Eocene rocks of Wyoming. This is of Protostrix. It is about 50 million
years old.
Living genera of owls have been discovered in Paleocene, Oligocene, and Miocene
deposits. Some owls evolved far more recently. For example, Pygmy Owl
(Glaucidium) fossils have so far only been dated to the Pleistocene.
The owl has definitely been around for a while.

Neal Robbins

P.S. Fossils of Tyto robusta have been found in the Gargano Peninsula of Italy.
They are of the Miocene period (26-7 million years ago). These fossils are dated
to the Upper Miocene.
Fossils of the species Otus scops have been discovered in Hungary and those date
to the Pleistocene.
Pliocene fossils of the species Speteo megaloptera have been unearthed in Idaho
and Kansas. They are of the Upper Pliocene.
Owls of the Pleistocene in Britain and France include:

Nyctea acandiaca (Britain)
Bubo bubo (Britain)
Nyctea acandiaca (France)

Fossilized remains of the species Sumia ulula have been discovered in Tennessee.
They date to the Pleistocene.
Another Pleistocene owl is Aegolius funerus. Fossils of the species have been
found in Hungary.
A large Pleistocene owl called Tyto alba lived during the Pleistocene and
sub-recent. Fossils of it have been discovered in:

North America (including Nuevo leon and Yucatan in Mexico)
Brazil
Galapagos
New Zealand
Southern Europe
Israel







---------------------------------
Do you Yahoo!?
New and Improved Yahoo! Mail - Send 10MB messages!

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]