The recently described species Otushoyi of NW-Argentina is compared withO. atricapillus andsanctaecatarinae of SE-Brazil and NE-Argentina, which probably represent its nearest allies. Based on their plumage patterns, size and vocalizations it may be assumed that these geographical representatives are specifically distinct and might be regarded as allospecies and paraspecies, respectively, of theOtus atricapillus superspecies.O. guatemalae may also belong in this superspecies. The differentiation of these species presumably occurred during the Pleistocene, when several populations of an ancestral species were isolated in various forest refuges. More research in the field and in the laboratory will be necessary, preferably also including all taxa of that difficult genus, to clarify the complex relationships between the various neotropical subspecies and species ofOtus owls.