biology

Ninox

Ninox is a biology topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Ninox rather than just read about it. In short: Ninox is a genus of true owls comprising 36 extant and one extinct species found in Asia and Australasia. Many species are known as hawk-owls or boobooks, but the northern hawk-owl (Surnia ulula) is not a member of this genus.

Key takeaways

Ninox belongs to biology; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Ninox to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Ninox from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Ninox is a genus of true owls comprising 36 extant and one extinct species found in Asia and Australasia. Many species are known as hawk-owls or boobooks, but the northern hawk-owl (Surnia ulula) is not a member of this genus.

Taxonomy The genus was introduced by English naturalist Brian Houghton Hodgson in 1837 with the type species as Ninox nipalensis, a junior synonym of Strix lugubris Tickell 1833. Strix lugubris is now considered a subspecies of the brown boobook (Ninox scutulata lugubris).

Etymology The ornithologist who first described Ninox ios gives the origin of the genus name as a portmanteau of nisus and noctua.

Species The genus contains 37 species:

† Laughing owl, Ninox albifacies (extinct) Rufous owl, Ninox rufa Powerful owl, Ninox strenua Barking owl, Ninox connivens Sumba boobook, Ninox rudolfi Australian boobook, Ninox boobook Rote boobook Ninox rotiensis Timor boobook Ninox fusca Alor boobook, Ninox plesseni Tasmanian boobook, Ninox leucopsis Morepork, Ninox novaeseelandiae Northern boobook, Ninox japonica Brown boobook, Ninox scutulata Hume's boobook, Ninox obscura Chocolate boobook, Ninox randi Andaman boobook, Ninox affinis Philippine hawk-owl group Luzon boobook, Ninox philippensis Mindanao boobook, Ninox spilocephala Camiguin boobook, Ninox leventisi Sulu boobook, Ninox reyi Cebu boobook, Ninox rumseyi Romblon boobook, Ninox spilonotus Mindoro boobook, Ninox mindorensis Least boobook, Ninox sumbaensis Togian boobook, Ninox burhani Ochre-bellied boobook, Ninox ochracea Cinnabar boobook, Ninox ios Moluccan boobook group Halmahera boobook, Ninox hypogramma Buru boobook, Ninox hantu Seram boobook, Ninox squamipila Tanimbar boobook, Ninox forbesi Christmas boobook, Ninox natalis Manus boobook, Ninox meeki Papuan boobook, Ninox theomacha Speckled boobook, Ninox punctulata New Britain boobook, Ninox odiosa New Ireland boobook, Ninox variegata Genomic studies of the extinct laughing owl of New Zealand indicate that it actually belongs in Ninox rather than the monotypic genus Sceloglaux. The fossil owls "Otus" wintershofensis and "Strix" brevis, both from the Early or Middle Miocene of Wintershof, Germany, are close to this genus; the latter was sometimes explicitly placed in Ninox (Olson 1985), but is now in Intutula. "Strix" edwardsi from the Late Miocene of La Grive St. Alban, France, might also belong into this group.

In human culture "NINOX" is an Australian Army project to develop night-vision goggles; it is named after Ninox strenua.

References

Olson, Storrs L. (1985): IX.C. Strigiformes. In: Farner, D.S.; King, J.R. & Parkes, Kenneth C. (eds.): Avian Biology 8: 129–132. Academic Press, New York.

Further reading Gwee, CC.Y.; Christidis, L.; Eaton, J.A.; Norman, J.A.; Trainor, C.R.; Verbelen, P.; Rheindt, F.E. (2017). "Bioacoustic and multi-locus DNA data of Ninox owls support high incidence of extinction and recolonisation on small, low-lying islands across Wallacea". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 109: 246–58. Bibcode:2017MolPE.109..246G. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2016.12.024. PMID 28017857.

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Ninox

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Ninox claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In biology, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Ninox before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Ninox ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Ninox

In research: Ninox appears in biology research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Ninox in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Ninox is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Bird genera, Ninox, Strigiformes stubs, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Ninox outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Ninox in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Ninox means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Ninox out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Ninox in simple terms?

Why does Ninox matter?

Because it connects several biology ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Ninox?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Ninox.