Ornimegalonyx

Common card · No. 315957

The Cuban giant owl or cursorial giant owl (Ornimegalonyx) is an extinct genus of giant owl that measured 1.1 metres (3 ft 7 in) in height. It is closely related to the many species of living owls of the genus Strix. It was a flightless or nearly flightless bird and it is believed to be the largest owl that ever existed. It lived on the island of Cuba. The first fossil specimen was mistakenly described as a bird in the family Phorusrhacidae, in part because the bones were so large. In 1961, Pierce Brodkorb reviewed the findings and identified them to have belonged to an owl. Remains have been found in cave deposits from the Late Pleistocene period (126,000 to 11,700 years ago).

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