Rodrigues Owl (Mascarenotus murivorus)

Year Last Seen:

1726

Comments:

This species was endemic to the island of Rodrigues, Mauritius, but is now Extinct due to logging of its habitat and the effects of introduced species. It was last recorded in 1726.

Habitat:

Nothing is known, though it is likely to have inhabited the island's forests.

Causes:

Hunting, deforestation and predation by human commensals are likely to have caused its extinction.

Distribution:

Mascarenotus murivorus was described by a number of early travellers (with the last being Tafforet in 1726) as endemic to Rodrigues, Mauritius (Cheke 1987). The reports have been corroborated by the discovery of a number of bones (Cowles 1987), but the species has only recently been assigned to a genus (Mourer-Chauviré et al. 1994).

References:

IUCN Redbook Data