New Caledonian barn owl

New Caledonian barn owl; Temporal range: Holocene
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Clade:	Dinosauria
Class:	Aves
Order:	Strigiformes
Family:	Tytonidae
Genus:	Tyto
Species:	T. letocarti
Binomial name
	Tyto letocarti; Balouet & Olson, 1989

The New Caledonian barn owl (Tyto letocarti), also referred to as Letocart's barn owl, is an extinct species of owl in the barn owl family. It was endemic to the island of New Caledonia in Melanesia in the southwestern Pacific region. It was described from Holocene aged subfossil bones found at the Gilles Cave paleontological site on the west coast of Grande Terre. The holotype is a complete adult left femur (NCG 1000), held by the Muséum national d'histoire naturelle in Paris. The owl was described as Tyto? letocarti, indicating uncertainty as to generic placement at the time. The specific epithet honours Yves Letocart of New Caledonia's Water and Forest Service, who was active in bird conservation and paleontological work on the island.[1]

Ecology and extinction

Owl pellets found in cave deposits predating human arrival to the island indicate that the New Caledonian barn owl relied almost entirely on hunting reptiles, which is consistent with New Caledonia lacking any terrestrial mammalian species at the time. Following the arrival of humans, the number of reptiles declined abruptly, whether by direct anthropic action or predation and competition with introduced commensal rodents like the Polynesian rat. The resulting lack of prey caused the New Caledonian barn owl's extinction. Afterward, New Caledonia was colonized by the common barn owl (Tyto alba), whose diet is rodent-based instead.[2]

References

Balouet, J.C.; Olson, Storrs L. (1989). "Fossil birds from Late Quaternary deposits in New Caledonia" (PDF). Smithsonian Contributions to Zoology. 469: 18–19. doi:10.5479/si.00810282.469.
Anderson, A.; Sand, C.; Petchey, F.; Worthy, T. H. (2010). "Faunal extinction and human habitation in New Caledonia: Initial results and implications of new research at the Pindai Caves". Journal of Pacific Archaeology. 1 (1): 89–109. hdl:10289/5404.

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[balouet-1] Balouet, J.C.; Olson, Storrs L. (1989). "Fossil birds from Late Quaternary deposits in New Caledonia" (PDF). Smithsonian Contributions to Zoology. 469: 18–19. doi:10.5479/si.00810282.469.

[Anderson-2] Anderson, A.; Sand, C.; Petchey, F.; Worthy, T. H. (2010). "Faunal extinction and human habitation in New Caledonia: Initial results and implications of new research at the Pindai Caves". Journal of Pacific Archaeology. 1 (1): 89–109. hdl:10289/5404.