Anatidae

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Anatidae
Temporal range:
Early Oligocene – recent[1]
Clockwise from top left: mallard, mute swan, Brazilian teal, paradise shelduck, bufflehead, and greylag goose.
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Anseriformes
Suborder:
Anseres
Superfamily:
Anatoidea
Family: Anatidae
Leach, 1819
Type genus
Anas
Linnaeus, 1758
Genera

The Anatidae are the biological family of water birds that includes ducks, geese, and swans. The family has a cosmopolitan distribution, occurring on all the world's continents except Antarctica. These birds are adapted for swimming, floating on the water surface, and in some cases diving in at least shallow water. The family contains around 174 species in 43 genera (the magpie goose is no longer considered to be part of the Anatidae and is now placed in its own family, Anseranatidae).

They are generally herbivorous, and are

threatened with extinction
.

Landing mallard drake

Description and ecology

The ducks, geese, and swans are small- to large-sized birds with a broad and elongated general body plan.

lamellae which are particularly well defined in the filter-feeding species.[2]

Their feathers are excellent at shedding water due to special oils. Many of the ducks display sexual dimorphism, with the males being more brightly coloured than the females (although the situation is reversed in species such as the paradise shelduck). The swans, geese, and whistling-ducks lack sexually dimorphic plumage. Anatids are vocal birds, producing a range of quacks, honks, squeaks, and trumpeting sounds, depending on species; the female often has a deeper voice than the male.[3]

Anatids are generally

mergansers, are primarily piscivorous, and have serrated bills to help them catch fish. In a number of species, the young include a high proportion of invertebrates in their diets, but become purely herbivorous as adults.[3]

Breeding

The anatids are generally seasonal and

extrapair copulation among anatids is common, occurring in 55 species in 17 genera.[4]

Anatidae is a large proportion of the 3% of bird species to possess a

brood parasite, laying its eggs in the nests of gulls and coots
. While this species never raises its own young, a number of other ducks occasionally lay eggs in the nests of conspecifics (members of the same species) in addition to raising their own broods.

Relationship with humans

Duck, eider, and goose feathers and down have long been popular for bedspreads, pillows, sleeping bags, and coats. The members of this family also have long been used for food.

Humans have had a long relationship with ducks, geese, and swans; they are important economically and culturally to humans, and several duck species have benefited from an association with people. However, some anatids are agricultural pests, and have acted as vectors for zoonoses such as avian influenza.

Since 1600, five species of ducks have become

habitat loss and modification, and hybridisation with introduced ducks (for example the introduced ruddy duck swamping the white-headed duck
in Europe). Numerous governments and conservation and hunting organisations have made considerable progress in protecting ducks and duck populations through habitat protection and creation, laws and protection, and captive-breeding programmes.

Systematics

Anatidae: Eurasian teal (Anas crecca), gadwall (Anas strepera), northern pintail (Anas acuta), mallard (Anas platyrhynchos), greater scaup (Aythya marila), long-tailed duck (Clangula hyemalis), northern shoveler (Anas clypeata), garganey (Anas querquedula), Eurasian wigeon (Anas penelope), ferruginous duck (Aythya nyroca), common goldeneye (Bucephala clangula), common merganser (Mergus merganser), smew (Mergellus albellus), tufted duck (Aythya fuligula), red-breasted merganser (Mergus serrator), common pochard (Aythya ferina). Post of Belarus, 1996.

The name Anatidae for the family was introduced by the English zoologist William Elford Leach in a guide to the contents of the British Museum published in 1819.[8][9] While the status of the Anatidae as a family is straightforward, and which species properly belong to it is little debated, the relationships of the different tribes and subfamilies within it are poorly understood. The listing in the box at right should be regarded as simply one of several possible ways of organising the many species within the Anatidae; see discussion in the next section.

The systematics of the Anatidae are in a state of flux. Previously divided into six subfamilies,[

sequence analyses[12][13]
indicate, for example, the dabbling and diving ducks do not belong in the same subfamily.

While shortcomings certainly occur in Livezey's analysis,[

sample size
of many molecular studies available to date is small, mtDNA results must be considered with caution.

While a comprehensive review of the Anatidae which unites all evidence into a robust

Cairina
. For the fossil record, see below.

Alternatively,

clades
.

Genera

For the living and recently extinct members of each genus, see the article List of Anatidae species.[citation needed]

A male mallard duck
  • Subfamily:
    Aythyinae, diving ducks (Some 15 species of diving ducks, of worldwide distribution, in two to four genera; The 1986 morphological analysis[10] suggested the probably extinct pink-headed duck of India, previously treated separately in Rhodonessa, should be placed in Netta, but this has been questioned.[15] Furthermore, while morphologically close to dabbling ducks, the mtDNA data indicate a treatment as distinct subfamily is indeed correct, with the Tadorninae being actually closer to dabbling ducks than the diving ducks[13]
    )
  • Subfamily:
    ungulates, and other megaherbivores
    .
    • extinct
      )
    • Chendytes, diving-geese (extinct c. 450–250 BCE, A basal member of the dabbling duck clade[16])
    • Spatula
      , shovelers
    • Mareca, wigeons and gadwalls
    • Lophonetta
      , crested duck
    • Speculanas
      , bronze-winged duck
    • Amazonetta
      , Brazilian teal
    • Sibirionetta
      , Baikal teal
    • prehistoric
      )
    • prehistoric
      )
    • prehistoric
      )
  • Tribe: Mergini, eiders, scoters, sawbills and other sea-ducks
    Common goldeneye couple, male on the right.
    (There are 9 extant genera and some 20 living species; most of this group occur in the Northern Hemisphere, but a few [mostly extinct] mergansers in the Southern Hemisphere)
    • prehistoric
      )
    • Polysticta
      , Steller's eider
    • Somateria
      , eiders (3 species)
    • Histrionicus
      , harlequin duck (includes Ocyplonessa)
    • extinct
      )
    • Melanitta
      , scoters (6 species)
    • Clangula
      , long-tailed duck (1 species)
    • Bucephala, goldeneyes (3 species)
    • Mergellus, smew
    • Lophodytes
      , hooded merganser
    • extinct
      ).
  • Tribe: Oxyurini, stiff-tail ducks (a small group of 3–4 genera, 2–3 of them monotypic, with 7–8 living species)
    • Oxyura
      , stiff-tailed ducks (5 living species)
    • Nomonyx
      , masked duck
    • Heteronetta
      , black-headed duck
  • Unresolved: The largest degree of uncertainty concerns whether a number of genera are closer to the shelducks or to the dabbling ducks.
    monotypic subfamilies above, and the "perching ducks
    "
    • Coscoroba
      , coscoroba swan – Anserinae or same subfamily as Cereopsis?
    • Cereopsis
      , Cape Barren goose – Anserinae, Tadorninae, or own subfamily?
    • Biziura, musk ducks (1 living species) - Oxyurini?
    • prehistoric
      ) – as Cereopsis
    • Malacorhynchus, pink-eared ducks (1 living species) – Tadorninae, Oxyurinae or Dendrocheninae?
    • Sarkidiornis, comb duck – Tadorninae or closer to dabbling ducks?
    • Tachyeres
      , steamer ducks (4 species) – Tadorninae or closer to dabbling ducks?
    • Cyanochen
      , blue-winged goose – Tadorninae or more distant clade?
    • Nettapus
      , pygmy geese (3 species) – Anatinae or part of Southern Hemisphere radiation?
    • Pteronetta
      , Hartlaub's duck – traditionally dabbling ducks, but may be closer to Cyanochen
    • Asarcornis
      , Muscovy duck and white-winged duck, respectively (2 species) – traditionally dabbling ducks, but may be paraphyletic, with one species in Tadorninae and the other closer to diving ducks
    • Aix
      , Mandarin duck and wood duck (2 species) – dabbling ducks or Tadorninae?
    • Callonetta
      , ringed teal – dabbling ducks or Tadorninae?
    • Chenonetta, maned duck (1 living species) – dabbling ducks or Tadorninae? Includes Euryanas.
    • Marmaronetta
      , marbled duck – formerly dabbling ducks; actually a diving duck or a distinct subfamily

Prehistoric species

Maned duck
is the only living member of the genus Chenonetta

From

mya (since the Late Miocene
), does not help in determining their affinities:

  • Long-legged "shelduck", Anatidae sp. et gen. indet.
  • Kaua'i mole duck
    , Talpanas lippa

Similarly, Branta rhuax from the Big Island of Hawaiʻi, and a gigantic goose-like anatid from Oʻahu are known only from very incomplete, and in the former case much damaged, bone fragments. The former has been alleged to be a shelduck,[18] but this was generally dismissed because of the damage to the material and biogeographic considerations. The long-legged Kauaʻi bird, however, hints at the possibility of a former tadornine presence on the archipelago.

Fossil Anatidae

The fossil record of anatids is extensive, but many prehistoric genera cannot be unequivocally assigned to present-day subfamilies for the reasons given above. For prehistoric species of extant genera, see the respective genus accounts.

Dendrocheninae – a more advanced relative of the whistling-ducks or an ancestral relative of stifftail ducks paralleling whistling-ducks; if not extinct possibly belong in Oxyurinae (including Malacorhynchus)

  • Mionetta (Late Oligocene – Middle Miocene of C Europe) – includes "Anas" blanchardi, "A." consobrina, "A." natator, "Aythya" arvernensis
  • Manuherikia
    (Bathans Early/Middle Miocene of Otago, New Zealand)
  • Dendrochen (Early – Late? Miocene) – includes "Anas" integra, "A." oligocaena
  • Dendrocheninae gen. et sp. indet. (Late Miocene of Argentina)
Black swan (Cygnus atratus) skeleton on display at the Museum of Osteology.

Anserinae

  • Cygnavus (Early Oligocene of Kazakhstan – Early Miocene of Germany)
  • Cygnopterus (Middle Oligocene of Belgium – Early Miocene of France) – sometimes included in Cygnavus
  • Megalodytes (Middle Miocene of California, US)
  • "cf. Megalodytes" (Haraichi Middle Miocene of
    Annaka
    , Japan)
  • Anserobranta (Late Miocene of C Europe) – includes "Anas" robusta, validity doubtful
  • Presbychen (Temblor Late Miocene of Sharktooth Hill, US)
  • Afrocygnus (Late Miocene – Early Pliocene of EC Africa)
  • Paracygnus (Kimball Late Pliocene of Nebraska, US)
  • Eremochen (Pliocene)

Tadorninae

  • Australotadorna (Late Oligocene – Early Miocene of Australia)
  • Miotadorna (Bathans Early/Middle Miocene of Otago, New Zealand)
  • Tadorninae gen. et sp. indet. (Calvert Middle Miocene of Maryland, US)
  • Balcanas (Early Pliocene of Dorkovo, Bulgaria) – may be synonym of Tadorna or even common shelduck
  • Anabernicula (Late Pliocene ? – Late Pleistocene of SW and W North America)
  • Brantadorna (Middle Pleistocene of Vallecito Creek, US)
  • Nannonetta (Late Pleistocene of Peru)

Anatinae

Oxyurinae

  • Pinpanetta (Late Oligocene – Early Miocene of Australia)
  • Dunstanetta (Bathans Early/Middle Miocene of Otago, New Zealand) – tentatively placed here
  • Tirarinetta (Pliocene of Australia)

Incertae sedis

  • Aldabranas (Late Pleistocene of Aldabra, Indian Ocean) – anatine or tadornine* "Anas" albae (Late Miocene of Polgárdi, Hungary) – mergine? Formerly in Mergus
  • "Anas" eppelsheimensis (Early Pliocene of Eppelsheim, Germany) – anatine?
  • "Anas" isarensis (Late Miocene of Aumeister, Germany) – anatine?
  • "Anas" luederitzensis (Kalahari Early Miocene of Lüderitzbucht, Namibia) – anatine?
  • "Anas" meyerii (Middle Miocene of Öhningen, Germany) Described from a single badly crushed tarsometatarsus and phalanges. This species was named in 1867 by Milne-Edwards and then recombined in 1964 by Brodkorb to the genus Aythya. This species is currently regarded as Aves incertae sedis.[19]
  • "Anser" scaldii (Late Miocene of Antwerp, Belgium) – anserine or tadornine* Anatidae gen. et sp. indet. (Waite Late Miocene of Alcoota, Australia) – anatine, oxyurine?
  • "Anas" velox (Middle–Late? Miocene of C Europe) – anatine? May include "A." meyerii
  • Anatidae gen. et sp. indet. (Waite Late Miocene of Alcoota, Australia) – tadornine?
  • Anatidae gen. et sp. indet. MNZ S42797 (Bathans Early/Middle Miocene of Otago, New Zealand)
  • Anatidae gen. et sp. indet. (Middle Miocene of Nördlinger Ries, Germany) – tadornine?
  • Anatidae gen. et sp. indet. (Sajóvölgyi Middle Miocene of Mátraszõlõs, Hungary)[20]
  • "Aythya" chauvirae (Middle Miocene of Sansan, France and Credinţa, Romania) – 2 species
  • Caerulonettion (Early Miocene of France and the Czech Republic, Middle Miocene of Germany)
  • "Chenopis" nanus (Pleistocene of Australia) – at least 2 taxa, may be living species
  • Garganornis (Late Miocene of Gargano, Italy)
  • Matanas (Bathans Early/Middle Miocene of Otago, New Zealand)
  • Mioquerquedula (Middle Miocene of Mongolia)
  • "Oxyura" doksana (Early Miocene of Dolnice, Czech Republic)

Putative or disputed prehistoric anatids are:

The Middle Oligocene Limicorallus (from Chelkar-Teniz (Kazakhstan) was sometimes considered an anserine. It is now recognized as a primitive cormorant. The middle Eocene Eonessa was formerly thought to belong to Anatidae, however reexamination of the holotype in 1978 resulted in the genus being placed as Aves incertae sedis.[1]

See also

References

  1. ^ (PDF) on 2012-02-27. Retrieved 2010-01-25.
  2. ^
  3. ^ .
  4. .
  5. JSTOR 4089612. Archived from the original
    (PDF) on 2008-07-05.
  6. .
  7. .
  8. ^ Leach, William Elford (1819). "Eleventh Room". Synopsis of the Contents of the British Museum (15th ed.). London: British Museum. pp. 63-68 [67]. The name of the author is not specified in the document, Leach was the Keeper of Zoology at the time.
  9. ^ Bock, Walter J. (1994). History and Nomenclature of Avian Family-Group Names. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History. Vol. 222. New York: American Museum of Natural History. pp. 133, 245.
  10. ^
    JSTOR 4087184
    .
  11. .
  12. ^ .
  13. .
  14. ]
  15. .
  16. ^ Mlíkovský, J. (1992). "The present state of knowledge of Tertiary birds of Central europe" (PDF). Science Series. Los Angeles County, CA: Natural History Museum. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-02-19. Retrieved 2013-03-11.
  17. ^ Gál, Erika; Hír, János; Kessler, Eugén & Kókay, József (1998–99): Középsõ-miocén õsmaradványok, a Mátraszõlõs, Rákóczi-kápolna alatti útbevágásból. I. A Mátraszõlõs 1. lelõhely Archived 2011-07-21 at the Wayback Machine [Middle Miocene fossils from the sections at the Rákóczi chapel at Mátraszőlős. Locality Mátraszõlõs I.]. Folia Historico Naturalia Musei Matraensis 23: 33–78. [Hungarian with English abstract]

Further reading

External links