Burrowing Owl - Genus?

[davemangham]

Can anyone help with the correct Genus for the Burrowing Owl?

According to my 'Sibleys' Guide to Birds of North America' it is Elaphe, but according to other sources it is Speotyto, and Elaphe is just a psuedonym of Speotyto.

What should I be using? and can anyone explain why this confusion exists?

Thanks in anticipation.

[steve_nova]

Just to confuse the issue, I thought it was now in Athene?

[Jurij Hanžel]

Scroll down and choose your favourite taxonomic authority!
http://www.bsc-eoc.org/avibase/avibase.jsp?pg=summary&lang=EN&id=38CB8B63C6260702&ts=1152211069250

[davemangham]

Just to confuse the issue, I thought it was now in Athene?

Sorry folks!

I'm the one at fault. I was typing from a crib sheet scrawled on a 'post-it' note with other info on it, and picked the wrong genus to type. In my original question please read Athene for Elaphe!

Thanks for putting me right steve.

[steve_nova]

No problem, it did cross my mind that you had made a tyto....sorry typo mistake. 3:-)

Steve.

[davemangham]

Scroll down and choose your favourite taxonomic authority!
http://www.bsc-eoc.org/avibase/avibase.jsp?pg=summary&lang=EN&id=38CB8B63C6260702&ts=1152211069250

Thanks Jurij, great resource I hadn't yet used.
It seems that Athene is the most widely recognised, so that's what I'll go with, but why the difference between authorities? Surely the specie has been studied sufficiently for a common judgement to be formed? or is that being simplistic?

[cuckooroller]

Dave,
Bird Taxonomy is like Politics - people like to be seen as individualistic even when they might be secretly more or less in agreement. Having said that, a lot depends on what set of parameters are deemed most important when making these types of judgments, and then there seems to always be a grey zone encountered when considering small groups of related species - some seem to be more related to certain others in the group and less to others, and this leads to the common taxonomic quandary, i.e., when is a species sufficiently different, and on which bases, in order to be deemed sufficiently diverse to warrant collocation in another genus.

[njlarsen]

Here is a quote from Owls by König, Weick, & Becking:
Ahtene (Speotyto) cunicularia represents the genus Athene in the New World. Since DNA-DNA hybridisation suggested significant differences (Sibley & Monroe 1990) a separation into a monotypic genus appears justified. According to the sequence data, it is clear that Speotyto and Athene share common ancestry (divergence approximately six million years ago) and that they form a monophyletic group. Because of similarities in morphology, general appearence, vocal patterns, and in behaviour, however, we suggest merging Speotyto back in Athene.

This quote appears in a chapter presenting the "Molecular Evolution and Systematics of the Owls". The data shown has Athene noctua and Athene lilith with one common ancestor separated by about 6.5% sequence differences, and the separation from these two with burrowing owl taking place at least double as far back.

This chapter by the way proposes that when more studies are done, several additional splits will be warranted in the owls, for example with Tyto alba splitted into geographically separated species.

HTH
Niels