Chinese fossil shows owls ‘rejected night for fun in the sun’

Name: Massive 180-million-year-old ‘sea dragon’ fossil unearthed in England
Uploaded: 2022-03-28T16:00:26.000Z
Duration: 1 min 8 s
Description: Massive 180-million-year-old ‘sea dragon’ fossil unearthed in England

Extinct owl that lived millions of years ago was active in daytime, researchers say after study of skeleton fossil found near Tibetan Plateau

Analysis of bird bones and behaviour reveals the owl had an ancestor that evolved from nocturnal habits, they say

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The fossil of an owl that was active in daytime was found near the Tibetan Plateau. Photo: Chinese Academy of Sciences

Echo Xie

Published: 12:00am, 29 Mar 2022Updated: 10:37am, 29 Mar 2022

A Chinese-led research team have made what they say is the first discovery of a fossil skeleton of an owl that lived more than six million years ago and was active in daytime.

Most owl species are active at night, but a few are diurnal – active during the day and resting at night.

The researchers analysed eye bones from the fossil – found in China near the Tibetan Plateau – alongside those of other birds and reptiles. They found that the extinct owl was a member of the Surniini group, which includes most diurnal owl species.

The study was published on Monday in peer-reviewed journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

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Massive 180-million-year-old ‘sea dragon’ fossil unearthed in England

Li Zhiheng, the lead author of the study and a researcher with the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), said the fossil was the first trace of an ancient daytime-active owl.

“There were previous studies on owl fossils, but they didn’t analyse their behaviour and didn’t know clearly about their evolutionary history,” he said.