Mauritius Owl

Open encyclopedia reference

The Mauritius scops owl (Otus sauzieri), also known as the Mauritius owl or Mauritius lizard owl, is an extinct species of scops owl that lived on the Mascarene island of Mauritius. Contemporary accounts of owls include mentions in 17th-century reports from Mauritius, a drawing made around 1770, and a detailed description of a killed specimen from 1837. After the owls had disappeared, subfossils were found in the Mare aux Songes swamp. These remains became the basis of the new species Strix sauzieri in 1893 and two other species were later named: Scops commersoni based on the drawing and description in 1896, and Strix newtoni based on a smaller fossil in 1907. Later writers doubted whether three distinct owl species had lived on Mauritius, and concluded in 1994 that the known evidence represented a single species. It was placed in the new genus Mascarenotus along with the extinct owls of the two other Mascarene Islands, the Rodrigues scops owl and the Réunion scops owl.

Wikipedia contributors, Mauritius scops owl; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T03:29:27.836675+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.

Identity & source status

Scientific name

Otus sauzieri (E. Newton & Gadow, 1893)

Name authority

(E. Newton & Gadow, 1893)

Common name

Mauritius Owl

Rank

species

Accepted status

accepted

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Chordata

Class

Aves

Order

Strigiformes

Family

Strigidae

Genus

Otus

Extinction status

Recorded extinct

Classification family tree

Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.

1. domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
2. kingdomAnimalia
3. phylumChordata
4. subphylumVertebrata
5. infraphylumGnathostomata
6. parvphylumOsteichthyes
7. megaclassTetrapoda
8. classAves
9. orderStrigiformes
10. familyStrigidae
11. subfamilyStriginae
12. genusOtus Pennant, 1769
13. speciesOtus sauzieri (E. Newton & Gadow, 1893)

Close classified relatives

These entries share the source’s genus, Otus. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.

Browse 196 records assigned to Strigidae.

Names & synonyms

Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.

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.

1. https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=1244686 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. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.

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:CP7B2. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.