Mascarene owls
The Mascarene owls were those belonging to the genus Mascarenotus. They were restricted to the Mascarene Islands in the Indian Ocean. All three species, the Réunion owl, Mauritius owl, and Rodrigues owl, are now extinct.
Recent genetic studies indicate that the three species in the genus actually belong in the genus Otus, which contains the typical scops owls. They are likely descended from the lineage of the oriental scops-owl, and share common ancestry with the scops owls found in Madagascar and the Comoros. The Mascarenotus grouping was found to be non-monophyletic, with the species having evolved the same morphology in parallel evolution, with the Rodrigues owl forming an outgroup to the clade containing the Mauritius owl and the Rainforest scops owl and Seychelles scops owl.
