parent_taxon ornimegalonyx
Birds ( Aves ), also known as avian dinosaurs , are a group of endothermic vertebrates , characterised by feathers , toothless beaked jaws , the laying of hard - shelled eggs , a high metabolic rate , a four - chambered heart , and a lightweight but strong skeleton . Birds live worldwide and range in size from the bee hummingbird to the ___MASK63___ . They rank as the class of tetrapods with the most living species , at approximately ten thousand , with more than half of these being passerines , sometimes known as perching birds or , less accurately , as songbirds . Owls are birds from the order ___MASK46___ , which includes about 200 species of mostly solitary and nocturnal birds of prey typified by an upright stance , a large , broad head , binocular vision , binaural hearing , sharp talons , and feathers adapted for silent flight . Exceptions include the diurnal northern hawk - owl and the gregarious burrowing owl . Hawks are a group of medium - sized diurnal birds of prey of the family ___MASK41___ which are widely distributed and varying greatly in size . The ___MASK30___ (" Acinonyx jubatus ") is a large felid of the subfamily ___MASK66___ that occurs mainly in eastern and southern Africa and a few parts of Iran . The only extant member of the genus " Acinonyx ", the ___MASK30___ was first described by Johann Christian Daniel von Schreber in 1775 . The ___MASK30___ is characterised by a slender body , deep chest , spotted coat , a small rounded head , black tear - like streaks on the face , long thin legs and a long spotted tail . Its lightly built , slender form is in sharp contrast with the robust build of the big cats , making it more similar to the ___MASK23___ . The ___MASK30___ reaches nearly at the shoulder , and weighs . Though taller than the leopard , it is notably smaller than the lion . Basically yellowish tan or rufous to greyish white , the coat is uniformly covered with nearly 2 , 000 solid black spots . Isla de ___MASK70___ Juventud is the second - largest Cuban island and the seventh - largest island in the West Indies ( after Cuba itself , Hispaniola , Jamaica , Puerto Rico , Trinidad , and Andros Island ). The island was called the Isle of Pines ( Isla de Pinos ) until 1978 . It has an area and is south of the island of Cuba , across the Gulf of Batabanó . The island lies almost directly south of Havana and Pinar del Río and is a Special Municipality , not part of any province and is therefore administered directly by the central government of Cuba . The island has only one municipality , also named Isla de ___MASK70___ Juventud . Havana ( Spanish : " ___MASK70___ Habana ") is the capital city , largest city , province , major port , and leading commercial centre of Cuba . The city proper has a population of 2 . 1 million inhabitants , and it spans a total of  making it the largest city by area , the most populous city , and the third largest metropolitan area in the Caribbean region . The city extends mostly westward and southward from the bay , which is entered through a narrow inlet and which divides into three main harbours : Marimelena , Guanabacoa and Atarés . The sluggish Almendares River traverses the city from south to north , entering the Straits of Florida a few miles west of the bay . The ___MASK94___ (" ___MASK62___ pardus ") is one of the five " big cats " in the genus " ___MASK62___ ". It is a member of the family ___MASK43___ with a wide range in sub - Saharan Africa and parts of Asia . Fossil records found in Italy suggest that in the Pleistocene it ranged as far as Europe and Japan . The Cuban giant owl or giant cursorial owl ( Ornimegalonyx ) is an extinct genus of giant owl that measured 1 . 1 metres ( 3 ft 7 in ) in height . It is closely related to the many species of living owls of the genus Strix . It was a flightless or nearly flightless bird and it is believed to be the largest owl that ever existed . It lived on the island of Cuba . The first fossil specimen was mistakenly described as a bird in the family Phorusrhacidae , in part because the bones were so large . In 1961 , Pierce Brodkorb reviewed the findings and placed them properly , with the owls . Remains have been abundant throughout the island , in cave deposits from the Late Pleistocene period ( 126 , 000 to 11 , 700 years ago ) and at least three nearly complete skeletons have been found . `` Ornimegalonyx arredondoi '' is a nomen nudum ; the name was proposed for this species before it was described but oteroi was eventually adopted by Oscar Arredondo ( according to the rules of the ICZN , naming a species after oneself is not prohibited , but it is frowned upon as vain by the scientific community ) . Jamaica is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea , consisting of the third - largest island of the Greater Antilles . The island , in ___MASK55___ , lies about south of Cuba , and west of Hispaniola ( the island containing the nation - states of Haiti and the Dominican Republic ). Jamaica is the fourth - largest island country in the Caribbean , by ___MASK55___ . Mexico (, modern Nahuatl ), officially the United Mexican States , is a federal republic in the southern half of North America . It is bordered to the north by the United States ; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean ; to the southeast by Guatemala , Belize , and the Caribbean Sea ; and to the east by the Gulf of Mexico . Covering almost two million square kilometers ( over 760 , 000 sq mi ), Mexico is the sixth largest country in the Americas by total ___MASK55___ and the 13th largest independent nation in the world . With an estimated population of over 120 million , it is the eleventh most populous country and the most populous Spanish - speaking country in the world while being the second most populous country in Latin America . Mexico is a federation comprising 31 states and a federal district that is also its capital and most populous city . Other metropolises include Guadalajara , Monterrey , Puebla , Toluca , Tijuana and León . A cursorial organism is one that is adapted specifically to run . There are different ways of distinguishing cursorial organisms ; for example , they can be distinguished by feeding habits so that a horse is a cursorial grazer and a wolf a cursorial predator . Cursorial organisms are typically adapted to long - distance running at high speeds , rather than animals with high acceleration over short distances ; thus , a ___MASK94___ is considered cursorial , while a ___MASK30___ is not . Among vertebrates , animals under 1 kg of mass are rarely considered cursorial , as they typically move in a series of short bursts rather than at a constant speed . All extant cursorial vertebrates are endothermic , allowing high metabolic rates and high endurance , though it is possible some extinct species were ectothermic . Cuba , officially the Republic of Cuba , is a country comprising the island of Cuba as well as Isla de ___MASK70___ Juventud and several minor archipelagos . Cuba is located in the northern Caribbean where the Caribbean Sea , the Gulf of Mexico , and the Atlantic Ocean meet . It is south of both the U . S . state of Florida and the Bahamas , west of Haiti , and north of Jamaica . Havana is the largest city and capital ; other major cities include Santiago de Cuba and Camagüey . Cuba is the largest island in the Caribbean , with an area of , and the second - most populous after Hispaniola , with over 11 million inhabitants . Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city of Cuba and capital city of Santiago de Cuba Province in the south - eastern ___MASK55___ of the island , some south - east of the Cuban capital of Havana . The Gulf of Mexico is an ocean basin largely surrounded by the North American continent . It is bounded on the northeast , north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United States , on the southwest and south by Mexico , and on the southeast by Cuba . The U . S . states of ___MASK64___ , Florida , Louisiana , Mississippi and Texas border the Gulf on the north , which are often referred to as the " Third Coast " in comparison with the U . S . Atlantic and Pacific coasts , or sometimes the " south coast ", in juxtaposition to the Great Lakes region being the " north coast ." One of the gulf ' s seven main ___MASK48___ is the Gulf of Mexico basin . Florida ( Spanish for " land of flowers ") is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States . It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico , to the north by ___MASK64___ and Georgia , to the east by the Atlantic Ocean , and to the south by the Straits of Florida and Cuba . Florida is the 22nd most extensive , the 3rd most populous , and the 8th most densely populated of the U . S . states . Jacksonville is the most populous municipality in the state and is the largest city by area in the contiguous United States . The Miami metropolitan area is Florida ' s most populous urban area . The city of Tallahassee is the state capital . Hispaniola ( Spanish : " ___MASK70___ Española "; Latin : " Hispaniola "; Taíno : " Haiti ") is the 22nd - largest island in the world , located in the Caribbean island group , the Greater Antilles . It is the second largest island in the Caribbean after Cuba , and the tenth most populous island in the world . The northern hawk - owl (" ___MASK50___ ulula ") is a non - migratory owl that usually stays within its breeding range , though it sometimes irrupts southward . It is one of the few owls that is neither nocturnal nor crepuscular , being active only during the day . This is the only living species in the genus " ___MASK50___ " of the family ___MASK25___ , the " typical " owls ( as opposed to barn owls , Tytonidae ). The species is sometimes called simply the hawk owl ; however , many species of owls in the " Ninox " genus are also called " hawk owls ". The burrowing owl (" ___MASK76___ cunicularia ") is a small , long - legged owl found throughout open landscapes of North and South America . Burrowing owls can be found in grasslands , rangelands , agricultural ___MASK48___ , deserts , or any other open dry area with low vegetation . They nest and roost in burrows , such as those excavated by prairie dogs (" Cynomys " spp .). Unlike most owls , burrowing owls are often active during the day , although they tend to avoid the midday heat . Like many other kinds of owls , though , burrowing owls do most of their hunting from dusk until dawn , when they can use their night vision and hearing to their advantage . Living in open grasslands as opposed to forests , the burrowing owl has developed longer legs that enable it to sprint , as well as fly , when hunting . The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world ' s oceans with a total ___MASK55___ of about . It covers approximately 20 percent of the Earth ' s surface and about 29 percent of its water surface ___MASK55___ . It separates the " Old World " from the " New World ".