Tyto gigantea

Tyto gigantea is an extinct barn owl from what is now Gargano, Italy, dating back to the late Miocene. From its remains, T. gigantea is suggested to have been as large as or larger than the Eurasian eagle-owl (Bubo bubo).

This species seems to have lived at the same time as the closely related owl, Tyto robusta. That would represent a single lineage of owls adapting to the largest size of their prey on the island, such as the great erinaceomorph of Gargano, Deinogalerix, and rodents.

References

1. Tyto
2. Tyto robusta
3. T. gigantea
4. Garganornis
5. Ornimegalonyx
6. Deinogalerix
7. Island gigantism
8. 1973 in paleontology
9. Gargano
10. Flightless bird
11. List of extinct bird species since 1500
12. List of species protected by CITES Appendix I
13. List of the prehistoric life of California
14. List of birds of South America
15. List of largest birds
16. List of birds of Colombia
17. List of birds of Argentina
18. List of birds of Asia
19. Timeline of extinctions in the Holocene
20. List of birds of Indonesia