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Cited by 63

The DOI matches its Crossref record; 21 of the 21 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.

Ocurrence and independent evolution of bilateral ear asymmetry in owls and implications on owl taxonomy

Norberg, R. Å.·1977·Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. B, Biological Sciences
DOI 10.1098/rstb.1977.0116
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Abstract

On the basis of the literature and my own examination of living and/or dead but fresh owls of 16 species, bilateral asymmetry of external ears in owls is surveyed and ear structure briefly described. Consideration of the probability of origin of various structural similarities and dissimilarities in the ear leads to the conclusion that ear asymmetry has evolved independently in at least five lines, represented by the respective genera (1) Tyto, (2) Phodilus, (3) Bubo, Ciccaba, Strix, (4) Rhinoptynx, Asio, Pseudoscops, and (5) Aegolius. Bubo, Ciccaba, and Strix probably represent more than one line of origin of ear asymmetry. Available evidence suggests that bilateral ear asymmetry in owls serves to make the vertical directional sensitivity patterns different between the two ears for high frequencies, thus making possible vertical localization based on binaural comparison of intensity and spectral composition of sound. When an owl localizes prey by hearing, the direction of the source usually forms a shallow angle with the ground. Therefore, a certain angle of error usually converts into a longer distance along the ground for a vertical error than for a horizontal error. This is a crucial factor that calls for good vertical localization ability of owls which rely on hearing for localization of food. Selection pressure for improvement of the ability of vertical localization of sound is believed to lie behind the evolution of all types of bilateral ear asymmetry in owls. On the basis of comparative ear structure the current subdivision of family Strigidae into subfamily Buboninae and Striginae is rejected. The external ears of Rhinoptynx and Pseudoscops are described for the first time and shown to be very similar to those of Asio otus, demonstrating affinity between these three genera.

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Crossref · 10.1098/rstb.1977.0116

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Citations

Cites

Research works printed but not linked: 12

  1. Baird S. F. Brewer T. M. & Ridgway R. 1 8 7 4 A history of North American birds vol. 3 pp. 4-103 Owls. Boston: Little Brown and Company.
  2. Bock W. J . 1 9 6 7 The use of adaptive characters in avian classification. Proc. 14th Int. Orn. Congr. Oxford 1966 pp. 61-74.
  3. Burton J . A. (ed.) 1 9 7 3 Owls of the world. London: Eurobook Ltd.
  4. Collett R., 1871, On the asymmetry of the skull in Strix tengmalmi. Proc, Zool. Soc. Lond., 739
  5. Collett R. 1 8 7 2 Om craniets assymetri hos Nyctala tengmalmi Gm. Fork vidensk. Selsk. Krist. pp. 68-72. (In Norwegian. Content essentially as in Collett 1 8 7 1 .)
  6. Collett R. 1881 Craniets og oreaabningernes bygning hos de nordeuropaeiske arter af familien Strigidae. Fork vidensk. Selsk. Krist. pp. 1-38. (In Norwegian. An unabridged English version was given by Shufeldt 1 9 0 1 who also added some notes.)
  7. Lucas A. M. & Stettenheim P. R. 1 9 7 2 Avian anatomy. Integument vol. 1. Washington D .C .: U.S. Government Printing Office.
  8. Mikkola H. 1 9 7 3 Wood owls. In Owls of the world (ed. J. A. Burton) pp. 116-146. London: Eurobook Ltd.
  9. Norberg R. A., 1968, Physical factors in directional hearing in Aegoliusfunereus(Linne) (Strigiformes), with special reference to the significance of the asymmetry of the external ears, Ark. Zool., 20, 181
  10. Peters J . L. 1 9 4 0 Check-list of birds of the world vol. 4. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
  11. Pumphrey R. J ., 1948, Ann. Rep. Smithson. Inst., 305
  12. Shufeldt R. W. 1 9 0 0 On the osteology of the Striges (Strigidae and Bubonidae). Proc. Amer. Phil. Soc. 39 665-722.

Cited by

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Metadata

Authors
Norberg, R. Å.
Affiliations
Department of Zoology, Fack, S-400 33 Göteborg 33, Sweden
Venue
Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. B, Biological Sciences
Publisher
The Royal Society
Published
1977-08-31
Volume
280
Issue
973
Pages
375-408
ISSN
  • 0080-4622
  • 2054-0280
DOI
10.1098/rstb.1977.0116
Cited by
63
References
21
Language
en
Licence
royalsociety.org/journals/ethics-policies/data-sharing-mining/ (tdm)

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