47-million-year-old owl fossil suggests diurnal habits, narrowing timeline for nocturnal shift
Perfectly preserved remains of a fledgling owl with its last meal, a cockroach, in its stomach suggest daytime hunting in the Eocene
Fossilised remains of an owl that lived 47 million years ago in what is now Germany suggest that early owls were active during the day, helping to narrow the period when the birds evolved nocturnal habits. The newly described species, Masillastrix blattophaga, was unearthed in the Messel Pit, a renowned Eocene fossil site, and is so well preserved that researchers found a cockroach in its stomach, likely its last meal.