Tyto gigantea

Tyto gigantea is an extinct barn owl from what is now Gargano, Italy, dating back to the late Miocene. From its remains, T. gigantea is suggested to have been as large as or larger than the Eurasian eagle-owl (Bubo bubo).

Tibiotarsus of Tyto gigantea.

Tyto gigantea Temporal range: Late Miocene 11.63–5.333 Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
Tyto gigantea
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Strigiformes
Family:	Tytonidae
Genus:	Tyto
Species:	†T. gigantea
Binomial name
†Tyto gigantea Ballmann, 1973

This species seems to have lived at the same time as the closely related owl, Tyto robusta.^[1] That would represent a single lineage of owls adapting to the largest size of their prey on the island, such as the great erinaceomorph of Gargano, Deinogalerix, and rodents.^[2]

References

1. Pavia M. (2011). "Fossil birds from the Neogene of the Gargano (Apulia, SE Italy)". pp. 78–80. Retrieved 7 February 2019.
2. Mlíkovský, J. (1998). A new barn owl (Aves: Strigidae) from the early Miocene of Germany, with comments on the fossil history of the Tytoninae. Journal für Ornithologie, 139(3), 247-261.

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