The genus
Bubo was introduced in 1805 by the French zoologist
André Duméril for the horned owls. The
type species is the
Eurasian eagle-owl. The word
bubo is
Latin for the Eurasian eagle owl and was used as the specific epithet for the species by
Carl Linnaeus in 1758. A
molecular phylogenetic study published in 2020 found that species in the genera
Scotopelia and
Ketupa were embedded within the clade containing members of the genus
Bubo making the genus
Bubo paraphyletic. To create monophyletic genera, nine species were moved from
Bubo to
Ketupa.
Species The genus contains 10 extant species: •
Bubo insularis (Pleistocene of Sardinia) Some notable undescribed
fossils of prehistoric horned owls, usually quite fragmentary remains, have also been recorded: •
Bubo sp. (Late Pliocene of Senèze, France) •
Bubo sp. (Late Pliocene of Rębielice Królewskie, Poland; tentatively placed here) •
Bubo sp. (Late Pleistocene of San Josecito Cavern, Mexico) Specimen
UMMP V31030, a Late Pliocene
coracoid from the
Rexroad Formation of Kansas (U.S.), cannot be conclusively assigned to either
Bubo or
Strix. This fossil is from a
taxon similar in size to the
great horned owl (
B. virginianus) or the
great grey owl (
S. nebulosa). The Sinclair owl (
Bubo sinclairi) from Late Pleistocene California may have been a
paleosubspecies of the great horned owl, while the roughly contemporary
Bubo insularis of the central and eastern
Mediterranean has been considered a
junior synonym of a
brown fish owl paleosubspecies. Additional paleosubspecies are discussed on the appropriate species page. Several presumed
Bubo fossils have turned out to be from different birds. The Late Eocene/Early Oligocene eared owls
"Bubo" incertus and
"Bubo" arvernensis are now placed in the fossil
barn owl genera
Nocturnavis and
Necrobyas, respectively.
"Bubo" leptosteus is now recognized as primitive owl in the genus
Minerva (formerly
Protostrix).
"Bubo" poirreiri from the Late Oligocene or Early Miocene of Saint-Gérard-le-Puy in France, is now placed in
Mioglaux. On the other hand, the supposed fossil
heron "Ardea" lignitum from the
Late Pliocene of
Plaue-Rippersroda (Germany) was apparently an owl and close to
Bubo or more probably actually belongs here. Given its age – about 2 million years ago or so – it is usually included in the Eurasian eagle-owl today. ==Interactions with humans==