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Description
Paleoglaux artophoron was a very small owl that lived in Europe during the Upper Eocene about 37 million years ago (give or take). Anatomically it is unlike any known extant owl, and it is notable for strange, filimentus feathers on its rump. It is known from a very detailed fossil, although the head of the owl is not present in the fossil. It is one of two know Paleoglaux species, the other being P. perrierensis.
The full paper on the fossil

Apparently I never posted this??? I did this last summer and could’ve sworn I posted it.
Anyway, this is my updated Paleoglaux artophoron. In hindsight I still made the rump feathers a bit too long but I feel like it’s much better than my last drawing.
Also, I discovered that the image on the Paleoglaux Wikipedia page is NOT the right fossil. I have no idea what bird that is. True, it’s decapitated the same as the P. arto fossil, but that is something else entirely.

Bay Owls and Boreal Owls were my muse for this little guy, despite the fact that P. arto was not closely related to either. Paleoglaux is currently classified as a totally separate owl family - it has a mish mash of features from both Strigdea and Tytonidea and yet belongs to neither. I feel like my last depiction was leaning too much towards Strigidea (I was heavily referencing Pygmy Owls) and I wanted more of a middle ground. I also added a locust for scale. These guys were tiny, somewhere between the size of an Elf Owl and a Pygmy Owl.

I also discovered one other person who also created a recreation of P. artophoron . While I feel like they nailed the rump feathers, I’m feeling kind of “meh?” about the fact that otherwise their rendition basically just looks like a Great Horned Owl. The detail in that one is amazing, though.

Description
Paleoglaux artophoron was a very small owl that lived in Europe during the Upper Eocene about 37 million years ago (give or take). Anatomically it is unlike any known extant owl, and it is notable for strange, filimentus feathers on its rump. It is known from a very detailed fossil, although the head of the owl is not present in the fossil. It is one of two know Paleoglaux species, the other being P. perrierensis.
The full paper on the fossil

Apparently I never posted this??? I did this last summer and could’ve sworn I posted it.
Anyway, this is my updated Paleoglaux artophoron. In hindsight I still made the rump feathers a bit too long but I feel like it’s much better than my last drawing.
Also, I discovered that the image on the Paleoglaux Wikipedia page is NOT the right fossil. I have no idea what bird that is. True, it’s decapitated the same as the P. arto fossil, but that is something else entirely.

Bay Owls and Boreal Owls were my muse for this little guy, despite the fact that P. arto was not closely related to either. Paleoglaux is currently classified as a totally separate owl family - it has a mish mash of features from both Strigdea and Tytonidea and yet belongs to neither. I feel like my last depiction was leaning too much towards Strigidea (I was heavily referencing Pygmy Owls) and I wanted more of a middle ground. I also added a locust for scale. These guys were tiny, somewhere between the size of an Elf Owl and a Pygmy Owl.

I also discovered one other person who also created a recreation of P. artophoron . While I feel like they nailed the rump feathers, I’m feeling kind of “meh?” about the fact that otherwise their rendition basically just looks like a Great Horned Owl. The detail in that one is amazing, though.