Discovered two new owl species in Southeast Asia

The calls of two owls in the Philippines help scientists realize they are two species that scientists have never known.

More than 15 years ago Pam Rasmussen, a Michigan University animalist in the US, and colleagues discovered two new subspecies of the tail of the Philippines, Livescience reported.

Newly discovered owls

'But last year we collected enough data to prove that they are not subspecies of the Philippine tail (Ninox philippensis), but two new species,' Rasmussen said.

In the organism classification system, the subspecies is in a lower position than the species, meaning a species may include one or more subspecies.

Previously, Rasmussen's team always thought that the owl species in the Philippines consisted of 7 subspecies and each species lived in separate geographical areas. One has never seen a subspecies of the Philippine tail sharing territory with another subspecies. Two subspecies discovered by Rasmussen's group 15 years ago have never been formally described and have no name.

A subspecies only lives on Gamiguin Sur island and has a very different accent and a variety of physical characteristics different from other owls on the island. For example, they have gray blue eyes and call for a long time at night. The dominant sound in their 'song' is the low-pitched growls. After identifying this as a new owl, the team called them the tail of the Camiguin. The other new owl is called a tail owl Cebu.

'No singing lessons, because their songs are pre-programmed in DNA. The song helps them attract their partners and protect their territory. Therefore, if the songs of some owls are completely different from the majority of owls in an area, they certainly belong to a separate species , 'Rasmussen explained.

Reference: Livescience