NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Abyssinian Owl
Asio abyssinicus (Guérin-Méneville, 1843)
Source-backed taxonomic record
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Asio abyssinicus, Bale, Etiopien, 2014-12-27 (iNaturalist).
Mikael Bauer · CC BY 4.0 · Image sourceProvider-generated thumbnail requested at 800 pixels; no local editing Local WebP display rendition; resized without cropping.
Open encyclopedia reference
The Abyssinian owl or African long-eared owl (Asio abyssinicus) is a non-migratory, terrestrial, medium-sized true owl. Due to their status as a protected species of least concern, they cannot legally be hunted in most of the territory that they inhabit.
Wikipedia contributors, Abyssinian owl; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T03:48:34.181799+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Asio abyssinicus (Guérin-Méneville, 1843)
- Name authority
- (Guérin-Méneville, 1843)
- Common name
- Abyssinian Owl
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Aves
- Order
- Strigiformes
- Family
- Strigidae
- Genus
- Asio
- Extinction status
- Recorded extant
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- megaclassTetrapoda
- classAves
- orderStrigiformes
- familyStrigidae
- subfamilyStriginae
- genusAsio Brisson, 1760
- speciesAsio abyssinicus (Guérin-Méneville, 1843)
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Asio. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Long-eared OwlAsio otus (Linnaeus, 1758) | StrigidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Madagascar OwlAsio madagascariensis (A. Smith, 1834) | StrigidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Striped OwlAsio clamator (Vieillot, 1808) | StrigidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Jamaican OwlAsio grammicus (Gosse, 1847) | StrigidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Fearful OwlAsio solomonensis (E. J. O. Hartert, 1901) | StrigidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Short-eared OwlAsio flammeus (Pontoppidan, 1763) | StrigidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Marsh OwlAsio capensis (A. Smith, 1834) | StrigidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Stygian OwlAsio stygius (Wagler, 1832) | StrigidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Otus abyssinicus Guérin-Méneville, 1843 Guérin-Méneville, 1843 | synonym |
Documented distribution
Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=555498 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:5W66G. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.