Caribbean islands were the original launchpad for American barn owls
A genetic study published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B finds that barn owls reached the Caribbean from the Eastern Hemisphere before spreading to the American mainland. The researchers also identify two separate arrivals in the Galápagos; they say the Caribbean once held the Western Hemisphere’s greatest barn-owl diversity, much of which has since disappeared.
Bottom line — The study counts six extinct Caribbean barn-owl species and argues that island lineages deserve closer conservation attention.
Go deeper 6
-
The researchers analysed genetic material from 68 owl samples, including historical museum specimens and fossils.
-
Their reconstruction places the first Western Hemisphere barn owls in the Greater Antilles, followed by dispersal across the Caribbean and on to the mainland.
-
The Galápagos arrivals were separate: one lineage reached Santa Cruz from the Greater Antilles; another reached San Cristóbal from South America.
-
The authors say the Santa Cruz lineage may warrant recognition as a distinct species, Tyto punctatissima.
-
The researchers could not obtain usable ancient DNA from the extinct giant owls Tyto pollens and Tyto ostologa, so their origins remain uncertain.
-
The study links Caribbean owl losses with the disappearance of native mammalian prey, including hutias, while cautioning that the causes and timing of many extinctions remain unclear.