{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,18]],"date-time":"2026-09-18T12:07:55Z","timestamp":1789733275813,"version":"4.0.1"},"reference-count":47,"publisher":"Wiley","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,8]],"date-time":"2026-09-08T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1788825600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/onlinelibrary.wiley.com\/termsAndConditions#vor"},{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,8]],"date-time":"2026-09-08T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1788825600000},"content-version":"tdm","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/doi.wiley.com\/10.1002\/tdm_license_1.1"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100006769","name":"Russian Science Foundation","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["22\u201014\u201000214"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["22\u201014\u201000214"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100006769","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["anatomypubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["The Anatomical Record"],"abstract":"<jats:title>Abstract<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:p>\n                    Extant little owl (\n                    <jats:italic>Athene noctua<\/jats:italic>\n                    ) and its relatives are iconic strigiform birds (Aves: Strigiformes) with a very poorly known evolutionary history. The anatomy and adaptation of early members of this group are poorly understood, as the fossil record of the genus\n                    <jats:italic>Athene<\/jats:italic>\n                    is very fragmentary prior to the Middle Pleistocene. The fossil taxon\n                    <jats:italic>Athene vallgornerensis<\/jats:italic>\n                    represents the earliest known species of\n                    <jats:italic>Athene<\/jats:italic>\n                    owls in Eurasia. Previously documented exclusively from the Lower Pleistocene of Mallorca and the Iberian Peninsula, this species was until now known from only a few postcranial elements, leaving its osteological characterization, adaptations and phylogenetic affinities highly uncertain. Here, I report a very rich collection of more than 350 fossil bones, including several partial skeletons, belonging to\n                    <jats:italic>A. vallgornerensis<\/jats:italic>\n                    from the Early Pleistocene (Calabrian, ~1.8\u20131.6\u2009Ma) of Crimea (Eastern Europe). This material makes\n                    <jats:italic>A. vallgornerensis<\/jats:italic>\n                    the best\u2010known pre\u2010Late Pleistocene fossil owl species, permits the first comprehensive osteological description and reveals a mosaic morphology of\n                    <jats:italic>A. vallgornerensis<\/jats:italic>\n                    , partly similar to that of modern\n                    <jats:italic>A. noctua<\/jats:italic>\n                    ,\n                    <jats:italic>Athene brama<\/jats:italic>\n                    and\n                    <jats:italic>Athene cunicularia<\/jats:italic>\n                    . Most importantly, the remarkably shortened hind limb (and tarsometatarsus in particular) aligns\n                    <jats:italic>A. vallgornerensis<\/jats:italic>\n                    with the phylogenetically basal and ecologically distinctive\n                    <jats:italic>Athene blewitti<\/jats:italic>\n                    , suggesting this fossil species could occupy a more arboreal or forest\u2010edge niche than the open\u2010country\n                    <jats:italic>A. noctua<\/jats:italic>\n                    and\n                    <jats:italic>A. brama<\/jats:italic>\n                    . The large sample size allows for the first quantitative assessment of individual variation in an Early Pleistocene European\n                    <jats:italic>Athene<\/jats:italic>\n                    population. The tarsometatarsus, in particular, exhibits remarkable intraspecific variability hinting at a high degree of phenotypic plasticity that may have served as raw material for adaptive evolution in the genus. These findings not only confirm the taxonomic validity of\n                    <jats:italic>A. vallgornerensis<\/jats:italic>\n                    but further provide critical insights into the early evolutionary history of\n                    <jats:italic>Athene<\/jats:italic>\n                    owls in Eurasia.\n                  <\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1002\/ar.70334","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,8]],"date-time":"2026-09-08T10:03:27Z","timestamp":1788861807000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1002\/crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Osteology, variation, and adaptations of the oldest Eurasian little owl\n                    <i>Athene vallgornerensis<\/i>\n                    , with implications for the evolutionary history of the genus\n                    <i>Athene<\/i>\n                    (Aves: Strigidae)"],"prefix":"10.1002","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-4367-0402","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Nikita","family":"Zelenkov","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Borissiak Paleontological institute, Russian Academy of Sciences  Moscow Russian Federation"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"311","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,8]]},"reference":[{"issue":"15","key":"e_1_2_11_2_1","first-page":"95","article-title":"Les aus fossils de la Cova de Ca Na Reia","volume":"14","author":"Alcover J. 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