The critically endangered forest owlet <i>Heteroglaux blewitti</i> is nested within the currently recognized <i>Athene</i> clade: A century-old debate addressed

<div><p>Range-restricted species generally have specific niche requirements and may often have unique evolutionary histories. Unfortunately, many of these species severely lack basic research, resulting in poor conservation strategies. The phylogenetic relationship of the Critically Endangered Forest Owlet <i>Heteroglaux blewitti</i> has been the subject of a century-old debate. The current classifications based on non-phylogenetic comparisons of morphology place the small owls of Asia into three genera, namely, <i>Athene</i>, <i>Glaucidium</i>, and <i>Heteroglaux</i>. Based on morphological and anatomical data, <i>H</i>. <i>blewitti</i> has been alternatively hypothesized to belong within <i>Athene</i>, <i>Glaucidium</i>, or its own monotypic genus <i>Heteroglaux</i>. To test these competing hypotheses, we sequenced six loci (~4300 bp data) and performed phylogenetic analyses of owlets. Mitochondrial and nuclear trees were not congruent in their placement of <i>H</i>. <i>blewitti</i>. However, both mitochondrial and nuclear combined datasets showed strong statistical support with high maximum likelihood bootstrap (>/ = 90) and Bayesian posterior probability values (>/ = 0.98) for <i>H</i>. <i>blewitti</i> being nested in the currently recognized <i>Athene</i> group, but not sister to Indian <i>A</i>. <i>brama</i>. The divergence of <i>H</i>. <i>blewitti</i> from its sister taxa was between 4.3 and 5.7 Ma coinciding with a period of drastic climatic changes in the Indian subcontinent. This study presented the first genetic analysis of <i>H</i>. <i>blewitti</i>, a Critically Endangered species, and addressed the long debate on the relationships of the <i>Athene</i>-<i>Heteroglaux</i>-<i>Glaucidium</i> complex. We recommend further studies with more data and complete taxon sampling to understand the biogeography of Indian <i>Athene</i> species.</p></div