We discovered a new species of owl – but we already think it's in danger

By Bárbara Freitas, PhD student in Biology, Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales (MNCN-CSIC)
Angelica Crottini, Researcher, Universidade do Porto
Martim Melo, Researcher in Evolutionary Biology, Universidade do Porto

As part of an international team of scientists we have confirmed a new species of owl after decades of speculation that it exists on Príncipe Island, part of the Democratic Republic of São Tomé and Príncipe in central Africa.

The existence of the owl was first confirmed in 2016 by a photo taken by Philippe Verbelen. However, testimonies from local people suggest they’ve suspected that the owl existed since as long ago as 1928 – it was just rarely spotted.

Now, we’ve described the owl in the open-access journal ZooKeys…

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