Sister Dorothy Stang in a 2004 photo. (CNS photo/courtesy Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur) / A Megascops stangiae seen in an undated photo (CNS photo/Douglas Fernandes, courtesy Global Sisters Report)
SÃO PAULO (CNS) Researchers from Brazil, Finland and the United States recently discovered a new species of screech owl in the Amazon forest. Dubbed the Xingu screech owl, the little creature was given a scientific name of “Megascops stangiae” in honor of the late Sister Dorothy Stang, a U.S.-born Sister of Notre Dame de Namur.
Sister Stang was assassinated in 2005 in Anapu, Brazil, while fighting for the Amazon forest and its people. Her congregation as well as the researchers who discovered the new species say naming the owl after the woman who dedicated most of her life to the people of the Amazon region is befitting.