Early evolution of diurnal habits in owls (Aves, Strigiformes) documented by a new and exquisitely preserved Miocene owl fossil from China

Abstract

Significance Owls, with their largely nocturnal habits, contrast strikingly with the vast majority of diurnal birds. A new spectacular late Miocene owl skeleton from China unexpectedly preserves the oldest evidence for daytime behavior in owls. The extinct owl is a member of the clade Surniini, which contains most living diurnal owl species. Analysis of the preserved eye bones documents them as consistent with diurnal birds, and phylogenetically constrained character mapping coincides with a reconstruction of an early evolutionary reversal away from nocturnal habits in this owl group. These results support a potential Miocene origin of nonnocturnal habits in a globally distributed owl group, which may be linked to steppe habitat expansion and climatic cooling in the late Miocene.

Mitochondrial Genome Analysis and Phylogeny and Divergence Time Evaluation of theStrix aluco

“…The BI and the ML tree have a consistent topology and each node has a high posterior probability. The phylogenetic tree of Strigiformes obtained by the mitochondrial genome in this study is consistent with the phylogenetic tree obtained by Li et al (2022) through morphology. Our phylogenetic tree shows that Wink et al (2009) compared Surnini (with Surnia, Glaucidium and Taenioglaux ) Athenini (with Athene ) and Aegolini (with Aegolius ) under the Surniinae are feasible.…”

“…Miosurnia diurna fossils provide an approximate date of the origin of Surniinae. the age of the fossil-bearing sediments of the M. diurna is 6.0-9.5 Ma (Li et al, 2022), Surniinae may be composed of the species of Surnia, Athene , Ninox , and Glaucidium (Wink M et al, 2009), M. diurna fossil features are closer to the clade of Surnia + Glaucidium , Therefore, the origin times of Glaucidium brasilianum, Glaucidium brodiei brodiei , and Glaucidium cuculoides were set at 6Ma and 9.5Ma. The ‘NEX’ file obtained by concatenating 37 genes using the ‘concatenate sequence’ function in PhyloSuite was imported into BEAUti 2.6.7, (http://www.beast2.org/), Hasegawa-Kishino-Yano (HKY) model, with four gamma categories, Strict clock with 1.0 Clock rate, and with a Yule process (speciation) prior.…”

“…Mitochondria are characterized by maternal inheritance, high conservation, multiple copies in cells, low sequence recombination rate, and high evolutionary rate, widely used in phylogenetic studies (Yan et al, 2017; Sun et al, 2020), and be able to accurately infer phylogenetic relationships in birds (Tuinen et al, 2000), while complete mitochondrial genomes generally have higher accuracy than partial mitochondrial genes (Haring et al, 2001; Harrison et al, 2004). Previous studies have defined the phylogenetic position of S. aluco using a single gene or a combination of multiple mitochondrial genes (Heidrich and Wink, 1994; Yu et al, 2021; Li et al, 2022; Fuchs et al, 2008; Wood et al, 2017). Earlier studies identified the monophyly of Strigiformes phylogeny through the cytochrome B (Cyt B) gene (Wink and Heidrich, 2000), through skeletal comparison, Striginae were divided into three subfamilies: Striginae (13 genera), Surniinae (8 genera) and Asioninae (2 genera) (Salter et al, 2020).…”

The Rising of Paleontology in China: A Century-Long Road

“…Many new species of Middle Triassic marine reptiles and fishes often represented by complete skeletons, including the earliest turtle, have also been discovered in Guizhou and Yunnan provinces [ 33 ]. The Miocene Hezheng Fauna has also produced abundant and diverse mammals and birds, sometimes with exceptional preservation of soft tissues and gut contents [ 34 ]. Lastly, the Miocene Zhangpu Biota from Fujian represents another amber treasure trove, recording a diverse fauna and flora of the tropical forest ecosystem [ 35 ].…”

Early Eocene fossil illuminates the ancestral (diurnal) ecomorphology of owls and documents a mosaic evolution of the strigiform body plan

“…At present it is difficult to unambiguously refute either of these hypotheses, and more data on the exact onset of a nocturnal activity pattern in owls are needed for firm conclusions, which is even more important given that a diurnal activity pattern evolved secondarily in some crown group Strigiformes, mainly among taxa of the Surniinae (e.g. Li et al 2022).…”