Megascops usta
Creators: name: Dantas, Sidnei M.
name: Weckstein, Jason D.
name: Bates, John
name: Oliveira, Joiciane N.
name: Catanach, Therese A.
name: Aleixo, Alexandre
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2021
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Chordata
Aves
Strigiformes
Strigidae
Megascops
Megascops usta

description: Megascops usta (Sclater, 1858)
Variable Screech-Owl
corujinha-relógio (Portuguese)
Scops usta Sclater, 1858 (type not examined).
Pisorhina watsonii (Cassin, 1848): Hellmayr (1907).
Otus watsonii (Cassin, 1848): Hellmayr (1910).
Pisorhina usta (Sclater, 1858): Snethlage (1914).
Otus watsonii usta (Sclater, 1858): Chapman (1928); Peters (1940); Hekstra (1982); Marks et al. 1999; Weick (2006; part: specimens in southernmost Venezuela and Amazonian Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, and Brazil between the western banks of the Negro and the lower Tapajós and upper Xingu rivers).
Otus atricapillus morelius Hekstra, 1982: Browning (1989); holotype at AMNH examined.
Otus atricapillus inambarii Hekstra, 1982: Browning (1989); holotype at FMNH examined.
Otus atricapillus fulvescens Hekstra, 1982: Browning (1989); holotype at AMNH examined.
Megascops usta (Sclater, 1858): König et al. (1999); König & Weick (2008; part: specimens in southernmost Venezuela and Amazonian Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, and Brazil between the western banks of the Negro and the lower Tapajós and upper Xingu rivers).
Megascops watsonii usta (Sclater, 1858): Dickinson & Remsen (2013); Clements et al. (2019); Gill et al. (2020; part: populations in southernmost Venezuela and Amazonian Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, and Brazil between the western banks of the Negro and the lower Tapajós and upper Xingu rivers).
With type locality referred as Tefé, Amazonas, Brazil (Sclater, 1858), and corresponding to specimens in Clade B, M. usta is distributed over a wide geographic area in Amazonia, ranging from west of the Branco-Negro rivers throughout the Imerí, Napo, Inambari, Madeira and upper stretches of the Tapajos and Xingu AOEs. Strong statistical support for reciprocal monophyly, high degree of coalescence, and high uncorrected pairwise p-distances ranging from 2.1% (M. ater) to 6.4% (M. watsonii) differentiates this taxon from others in the Megascops atricapilla-M. watsonii complex. Morphologically variable with multiple morphs, mainly brown or red, but also gray, and not safely distinguishable solely based on morphology from the other species in the complex. There is geographical variation in the frequency of different morphs among populations. Apparently does not include morphs as dark in color as those found in M. watsonii and M. ater. Vocally distinct from M. watsonii, M. stangiae and M. atricapilla by on average slower-paced longsongs and shortsongs (Fig. 9; Tables 6, 8, and 10).
description: Published as part of Dantas, Sidnei M., Weckstein, Jason D., Bates, John, Oliveira, Joiciane N., Catanach, Therese A. & Aleixo, Alexandre, 2021, Multi-character taxonomic review, systematics, and biogeography of the Blackcapped / Tawny-bellied Screech Owl (Megascops atricapilla-M. watsonii) complex (Aves: Strigidae), pp. 401-444 in Zootaxa 4949 (3) on page 428, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4949.3.1, http://zenodo.org/record/4640330