These birds only live on the island of Lombok, researchers maintain

Feb 14, 2013 19:21 GMT  ·  By

On February 13, the scientific journal PLOS ONE witnessed the publication of a new study stating that a new owl species had been discovered in Indonesia.

The scientists that published this research explained that, despite the fact that wildlife researchers first became acquainted with these birds quite a long while ago, it took some time for them to figure out the fact that they were dealing with a new species.

This was because these birds strikingly resembled other owls known to inhabit the region. However, as an analysis of their localizations later showed, these birds were quite unique.

The new owl species was named after one of the researchers who helped discover it. Thus, it is to be referred to by the scientific community as the Otus jolandae.

As explained by Science News, the researchers who discovered this new owl species maintain that the Otus jolandae only inhabits the island of Lombok.