It was described from Late Pleistocene to Holocene aged subfossil bones found at the Gilles Cave paleontological site on the west coast of Grande Terre.

The holotype is a complete adult left femur (NCG 1000), held by the Muséum national d'histoire naturelle in Paris.

The specific epithet honours Yves Letocart of New Caledonia's Water and Forest Service, who was active in bird conservation and paleontological work on the island.

Following the arrival of humans, the number of reptiles declined abruptly, whether by direct anthropic action or predation and competition with introduced commensal rodents like the Polynesian rat.

Afterward, New Caledonia was colonized by the common barn owl (Tyto alba), whose diet is rodent-based instead.