Ural owl
The Ural owl was named by Peter Simon Pallas in 1771 as "Strix uralensis", due to the type specimen having been collected in the Ural mountains range. While the Urals fall around the middle of the species’ distribution, some authors such as Karel Voous lamented that a more broadly appropriate than Ural owl wasn’t derived for the English common name. In other languages, the species is referred to as "Slaguggla", or “attacking owl”, in Swedish, "Habichtskauz", or “goshawk-owl”, in German or as the “long-tailed owl” in Russian. The Ural owl is a member of the "Strix" genus, which are quite often referred to as wood owls. Conservatively, about 18 species are currently represented in this genus, typically being medium to large sized owls, characteristically round-headed and lacking ear tufts, which acclimate to living in forested parts of various climatic zones. Four owls native to the neotropics are sometimes additionally included with the "Strix" genus but some authorities have also included these in a separate but related genus, "Ciccaba". "Strix" owls have an extensive fossil record and have long been widely distributed. The genetic relationship of true owls is somewhat muddled and different genetic testings has variously indicated that "Strix" owls are related to disparate appearing genera like "Pulsatrix", "Bubo" and "Asio".