Ninox

Ninox
	Morepork; (Ninox novaeseelandiae)
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Strigiformes
Family:	Strigidae
Genus:	Ninox; Hodgson, 1837
Type species
	Ninox nipalensis = Strix lugubris; Tickell 1833

Ninox is a genus of true owls comprising 36 species found in Asia and Australasia. Many species are known as hawk-owls or boobooks, but the northern hawk-owl (Surnia ulula) is not a member of this genus.

Taxonomy

The genus was introduced by English naturalist Brian Houghton Hodgson in 1837 with the type species as Ninox nipalensis, a junior synonym of Strix lugubris Tickell 1833. Strix lugubris is now considered a subspecies of the brown boobook (Ninox scutula lugubris).^[2]^[3]

**Seram boobook** (*N. squamipila*) (left); **Timor boobook** (*N. fusca*) (right)

Species

The genus contains 37 species:^[4]

† Laughing owl, Ninox albifacies (extinct)
Rufous owl, Ninox rufa
Powerful owl, Ninox strenua
Barking owl, Ninox connivens
Sumba boobook, Ninox rudolfi
Australian boobook, Ninox boobook
Rote boobook Ninox rotiensis
Timor boobook Ninox fusca
Alor boobook, Ninox plesseni
Tasmanian boobook, Ninox leucopsis
Morepork, Ninox novaeseelandiae
Northern boobook, Ninox japonica
Brown boobook, Ninox scutulata
Hume's boobook, Ninox obscura
Chocolate boobook, Ninox randi
Andaman boobook, Ninox affinis
Philippine hawk-owl group
- Luzon boobook, Ninox philippensis
- Mindanao boobook, Ninox spilocephala
- Camiguin boobook, Ninox leventisi
- Sulu boobook, Ninox reyi
- Cebu boobook, Ninox rumseyi
- Romblon boobook, Ninox spilonotus
- Mindoro boobook, Ninox mindorensis
Least boobook, Ninox sumbaensis
Togian boobook, Ninox burhani
Ochre-bellied boobook, Ninox ochracea
Cinnabar boobook, Ninox ios
Moluccan boobook group
- Halmahera boobook, Ninox hypogramma
- Buru boobook, Ninox hantu
- Seram boobook, Ninox squamipila
- Tanimbar boobook, Ninox forbesi
Christmas boobook, Ninox natalis
Manus boobook, Ninox meeki
Papuan boobook, Ninox theomacha
Speckled boobook, Ninox punctulata
New Britain boobook, Ninox odiosa
New Ireland boobook, Ninox variegata

Genomic studies of the extinct laughing owl of New Zealand indicate that it actually belongs in Ninox rather than the monotypic genus Sceloglaux.^[5] The fossil owls "Otus" wintershofensis and "Strix" brevis, both from the Early or Middle Miocene of Wintershof, Germany, are close to this genus; the latter was sometimes explicitly placed in Ninox (Olson 1985), but is now in Intutula. "Strix" edwardsi from the Late Miocene of La Grive St. Alban, France, might also belong into this group.^{[citation needed]}

In human culture

"NINOX" is an Australian Army project to develop night-vision goggles; it is named after Ninox strenua.

References

^ "Strigidae". aviansystematics.org. The Trust for Avian Systematics. Retrieved 2023-07-26.
^ Hodgson, Brian Houghton (1837). "Indication of a new genus belonging to the Strigine family, with description of the new species and type". Madras Journal of Literature and Science. 5: 23–25.
^ Dickinson, E.C.; Remsen, J.V. Jr., eds. (2013). The Howard & Moore Complete Checklist of the Birds of the World. Vol. 1: Non-passerines (4th ed.). Eastbourne, UK: Aves Press. p. 258. ISBN 978-0-9568611-0-8.
^ Gill, Frank; Donsker, David; Rasmussen, Pamela, eds. (January 2021). "Owls". IOC World Bird List Version 11.1. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 20 May 2021.
^ Wood, Jamie R.; Mitchell, Kieren J.; Scofield, R. Paul; Pietri, Vanesa L. De; Rawlence, Nicolas J.; Cooper, Alan (2016). "Phylogenetic relationships and terrestrial adaptations of the extinct laughing owl, Sceloglaux albifacies (Aves: Strigidae)". Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. doi:10.1111/zoj.12483. ISSN 1096-3642.

Olson, Storrs L. (1985): IX.C. Strigiformes. In: Farner, D.S.; King, J.R. & Parkes, Kenneth C. (eds.): Avian Biology 8: 129–132. Academic Press, New York.

Taxonomy

Species

In human culture

References

Further reading