Rasmussen et al. (2000) documented subtle vocal and plumage differences between western madagascariensis and eastern rutilus, but a subsequent genetic analysis (based solely on mtDNA) recovered only very low levels of genetic divergence between these taxa (Fuchs et al. 2007); therefore we lump Torotoroka Scops-Owl into Madagascar Scops-Owl. We continue to recognize both as separate monotypic groups: Madagascar Scops-Owl (Rainforest) Otus rutilus rutilus and Madagascar Scops-Owl (Torotoroka) Otus rutilus madagascariensis. Additional genetic data and a more geographically comprehensive analysis of vocalizations are required to better understand the relationship between these taxa.
Unintended disagreements occur when a parent (B) is
thinned by swapping a child (E) to another part of the
taxonomic tree, resulting in existing IDs of the parent being interpreted
as disagreements with existing IDs of the swapped child.
Identification
ID 2 of taxon E will be an unintended disagreement with ID 1 of taxon B after the taxon swap
If thinning a parent results in more than 10 unintended disagreements, you
should split the parent after swapping the child to replace existing IDs
of the parent (B) with IDs that don't disagree.
