Tyto is a genus of birds consisting of true barn owls, grass owls and masked owls that collectively make up all the species within the subfamily Tytoninae of the barn owl family, Tytonidae.
The genus Tyto was introduced in 1828 by the Swedish naturalist Gustaf Johan Billberg with the western barn owl as the type species.[1][2] The name is from the Ancient Greek tutō meaning "owl".[3]
The barn owl (Tyto alba) was formerly considered to have a global distribution with around 28 subspecies.[4] In the list of birds maintained by Frank Gill, Pamela Rasmussen and David Donsker on behalf of the International Ornithological Committee (IOC) the barn owl is now split into four species: the western barn owl (Tyto alba) (10 subspecies), the American barn owl (Tyto furcata) (12 subspecies), the eastern barn owl (Tyto javanica) (7 subspecies) and the Andaman masked owl (Tyto deroepstorffi).[5] This arrangement is followed here. Some support for this split was provided by a molecular phylogenetic study by Vera Uva and collaborators published in 2018 that compared the DNA sequences of three mitochondrial and one nuclear loci.[6] This split has not been adopted by other taxonomic authorities such as the Clements Checklist of Birds of the World maintained by members of Cornell University or by the list maintained by BirdLife International that is used by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.[7][8]
The cladogram below is based on the 2018 phylogenetic study. The Andaman masked owl (Tyto deroepstorffi) and Itombwe owl (Tyto prigoginei) were not sampled. The Manus masked owl (Tyto manusi) was embedded in a clade with subspecies of the Australian masked owl.[6]
TytoMinahasa masked owl (Tyto inexspectata)
Eastern grass owl (Tyto longimembris)
African grass owl (Tyto capensis)
Greater sooty owl (Tyto tenebricosa)
Lesser sooty owl (Tyto multipunctata)
Golden masked owl (Tyto aurantia)
Moluccan masked owl (Tyto sororcula)
Australian masked owl (Tyto novaehollandiae)
Red owl (Tyto soumagnei)
Sulawesi masked owl (Tyto rosenbergii)
Eastern barn owl (Tyto javanica)
Taliabu masked owl (Tyto nigrobrunnea)
Western barn owl (Tyto alba)
Ashy-faced owl (Tyto glaucops)
American barn owl (Tyto furcata)
Throughout their evolutionary history, Tyto owls have shown a better capability to colonize islands than other owls. Several such island forms have become extinct, some long ago, but some in comparatively recent times. A number of insular barn owls from the Mediterranean and the Caribbean were very large or truly gigantic species.
Seventeen species are recognized:[5]
A number of owl fossils were at one time assigned to the present genus, but are nowadays placed elsewhere. While there are clear differences in osteology between typical owls and barn owls, there has been parallel evolution to some degree and thus isolated fossil bones cannot necessarily be assigned to either family without thorough study. Notably, the genus Strix has been misapplied by many early scientists as a "wastebasket taxon" for many owls, including Tyto.[11]
They are darker on the back than the front, usually an orange-brown colour, the front being a paler version of the back or mottled, although there is considerable variation even amongst species. Tyto owls have a divided, heart-shaped facial disc, and lack the ear-like tufts of feathers found in many other owls. Tyto owls tend to be larger than bay owls. The name tyto (τυτώ) is onomatopeic Greek for owl.
Systematics and distribution of the living and fossil small barn owls of the West Indies (Aves: Strigiformes: Tytonidae)
". Zootaxa. 4830 (3): 544–564. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.4830.3.4. ISSN 1175-5334. PMID 33056145. S2CID 222819958.Tyto is a genus of birds consisting of true barn owls, grass owls and masked owls that collectively make up all the species within the subfamily Tytoninae of the barn owl family, Tytonidae.