Anas

Genus of birds From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Anas

Anas is a genus of dabbling ducks. It includes the pintails, most teals, and the mallard and its close relatives. It formerly included additional species but following the publication of a molecular phylogenetic study in 2009 the genus was split into four separate genera.[2] The genus now contains 31 living species. The name Anas is the Latin for "duck".

Quick Facts Scientific classification, Type species ...
Anas
Thumb
Female mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) with brood of young
Scientific classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Anseriformes
Family: Anatidae
Tribe: Anatini
Genus: Anas
Linnaeus, 1758
Type species
Anas boschas[1] = Anas platyrhynchos
Linnaeus, 1766
Species

31 extant, see text

Synonyms
  • Nettion
  • Querquedula
  • Punanetta
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Systematics

Summarize
Perspective

The genus Anas was introduced by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1758 in the tenth edition of his Systema Naturae.[3][4] Anas is the Latin word for a duck.[5] The genus formerly included additional species. In 2009 a large molecular phylogenetic study was published that compared mitochondrial DNA sequences from ducks, geese and swans in the family Anatidae. The results confirmed some of the conclusions of earlier smaller studies and indicated that the genus as then defined was non-monophyletic.[2] Based on the results of this study, Anas was split into four proposed monophyletic genera with five species including the wigeons transferred to the resurrected genus Mareca, ten species including the shovelers and some teals transferred to the resurrected genus Spatula and the Baikal teal placed in the monotypic genus Sibirionetta.[6]

Species

There are 31 extant species recognised in the genus:[6]

More information Image, Common Name ...
ImageCommon NameScientific nameDistribution
ThumbAfrican black duckAnas sparsaeastern and southern sub-Saharan Africa from South Africa n north to South Sudan and Ethiopia with outlying populations in western equatorial Africa, in south east Nigeria, Cameroon and Gabon.
ThumbYellow-billed duckAnas undulatasouthern and eastern Africa.
ThumbMeller's duckAnas mellerieastern Madagascar.
ThumbPacific black duckAnas superciliosaIndonesia, New Guinea, Australia, New Zealand, and many islands in the southwestern Pacific, reaching to the Caroline Islands in the north and French Polynesia in the east
ThumbLaysan duckAnas laysanensisHawaiian Islands
ThumbHawaiian duckAnas wyvillianaHawaiian islands
ThumbPhilippine duckAnas luzonicathe Philippines
ThumbIndian spot-billed duckAnas poecilorhynchaPakistan and India
ThumbEastern spot-billed duckAnas zonorhynchaSoutheast Asia
ThumbMallardAnas platyrhynchosAlaska to Mexico, the Hawaiian Islands, across Eurasia, from Iceland and southern Greenland and parts of Morocco (North Africa) in the west, Scandinavia and Britain to the north, and to Siberia, Japan, and South Korea, in the east, south-eastern and south-western Australia and New Zealand
ThumbMottled duckAnas fulvigulaGulf of Mexico coast between Alabama and Tamaulipas (Mexico) and Florida
ThumbAmerican black duckAnas rubripesSaskatchewan to the Atlantic in Canada and the Great Lakes and the Adirondacks in the United States
ThumbMexican duckAnas diaziMexico and the southern United States.
ThumbCape tealAnas capensissub-Saharan Africa
ThumbWhite-cheeked pintailAnas bahamensisCaribbean, South America, and the Galápagos Islands
ThumbRed-billed tealAnas erythrorhynchasouthern and eastern Africa
ThumbYellow-billed pintailAnas georgicaSouth America, the Falkland Islands and South Georgia
ThumbEaton's pintailAnas eatoniisland groups of Kerguelen and Crozet in the southern Indian Ocean
ThumbNorthern pintailAnas acutaEurope, Asia and North America
ThumbEurasian tealAnas creccanorthern Eurasia
ThumbGreen-winged tealAnas carolinensisNorth America except on the Aleutian Islands
ThumbYellow-billed tealAnas flavirostrisArgentina, the Falkland Islands, Chile, Peru, Bolivia, Uruguay, and Brazil.
ThumbAndean tealAnas andium (formerly included in A. flavirostris)Andean highlands of Colombia, Venezuela, and Ecuador
ThumbSunda tealAnas gibberifronsIndonesia.
ThumbAndaman tealAnas albogularis (formerly included in A. gibberifrons)Andaman Islands (India) and Great Coco Island (Burma)
ThumbGrey tealAnas gracilisAustralia and New Zealand
ThumbChestnut tealAnas castaneaTasmania and southern Victoria, New Guinea and Lord Howe Island
ThumbBernier's tealAnas bernieriMadagascar
ThumbBrown tealAnas chlorotisNew Zealand
ThumbAuckland tealAnas aucklandicaAuckland Islands south of New Zealand
ThumbCampbell tealAnas nesiotis (formerly included in A. aucklandica)New Zealand
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Extinct Species

Formerly placed in Anas:

Phylogeny

Cladogram based on the analysis of Gonzalez and colleagues published in 2009.[2]

Anas

Auckland teal (A. aucklandica)

Brown teal (A. chlorotis)

Bernier's teal (A. bernieri)

Chestnut teal (A. castanea)

Sunda teal (A. gibberifrons)

Yellow-billed teal (A. flavirostris)

Green-winged teal (A. carolinensis)

Eurasian teal (A. crecca)

Northern pintail (A. acuta)

Yellow-billed pintail (A. georgica)

Red-billed teal (A. erythrorhyncha)

White-cheeked pintail (A. bahamensis)

Cape teal (A. capensis)

Mexican duck (A. diazi)

American black duck (A. rubripes)

Mottled duck (A. fulvigula)

Mallard (A. platyrhynchos)

Indian spot-billed duck (A. poecilorhyncha)

Philippine duck (A. luzonica)

Laysan duck (A. laysanensis)

Pacific black duck (A. superciliosa)

Meller's duck (A. melleri)

Yellow-billed duck (A. undulata)

African black duck (A. sparsa)

Fossil record

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Anas blanchardi fossil

A number of fossil species of Anas have been described. Their relationships are often undetermined:

  • Anas sp. (Late Miocene of China)[7]
  • Anas sp. (mid-sized species from the Late Miocene of Rudabánya, Hungary)[8]
  • Anas amotape (Campbell 1979) (Talara Tar Seeps, Late Pleistocene of Peru)[9]
  • Anas bunkeri (Wetmore 1944) (Early -? Middle Pliocene – Early Pleistocene of WC USA) – Nettion red-and-green head clade?[10]
  • Anas cheuen Agnolín 2006 (Early-Middle Pleistocene of Argentina) – Dafila?[11]
  • Anas ganii Burchak-Abramovich, Suspanov and David 1996 (Late Pliocene/Early Pleistocene of Moldova)
  • Anas greeni (Brodkorb 1964) (Late Miocene?/Early Pliocene of South Dakota, USA)[12]Nettion red-and-green head clade (doubtful)?
  • Anas itchtucknee McCoy 1963[13] (Late Pleistocene of Florida, USA) doubtful validity[14]
  • Anas kisatibiensis Burchak-Abramovich and Mczedlidze 1995 (nomen nudum) (Early Pliocene of Kisatibi, Georgia)
  • Anas kurochkini Zelenkov & Panteleyev 2015 (Late Miocene of Sea of Azov, southern Russia)
  • Anas lambrechti Spillman 1942 [Archaeoquerquedula lambrechti] (Pleistocene of Ecuador)
  • Anas ogallalae (Brodkorb 1962) (Late Miocene?/Early Pliocene of Kansas, USA)[15]Nettion red-and-green head clade (doubtful)?
  • Bermuda Islands flightless duckAnas pachyscelus Wetmore 1960 (Late Pleistocene of Bermuda, W Atlantic)
  • Anas pullulans (Brodkorb 1961) (Late Miocene?/Early Pliocene of Oregon, USA)[16]Punanetta?
  • Anas schneideri Emslie 1985 (Late Pleistocene of Little Box Elder Cave, USA)[17]

Several prehistoric waterfowl supposedly part of the Anas assemblage are nowadays not placed in this genus anymore, at least not with certainty:

  • "Anas" basaltica (Late Oligocene of Czech Republic) is apparently an indeterminate heron.[18]
  • "Anas" blanchardi, "A." consobrina, "A." natator are now in Mionetta
  • "Anas" creccoides (Early-mid Oligocene of Belgium), "A." risgoviensis (Late Miocene of Bavaria, Germany) and "A." skalicensis (Early Miocene of Czech Republic), though possibly anseriform, cannot be placed with any certainty among modern birds at all.[18][19]
  • "Anas" albae (Late Miocene of Hungary), "A." eppelsheimensis (Early Pliocene of Germany) and "A." isarensis (Late Miocene of Germany) are apparently Anatidae of unclear affiliations[18]
  • "Anas" integra and "A." oligocaena are now in Dendrochen.
  • "Anas" lignitifila from the Late Miocene of Tuscany has been moved to its own genus, Bambolinetta, being a highly unusual marine waterfowl.
  • "Anas" luederitzensis (Early Miocene of Namibia) may belong within Oxyurini[20]
  • "Anas" robusta is now tentatively placed in Anserobranta.[21]
  • "Anas" sansaniensis is now placed in Chenoanas
  • "Anas" velox (Middle – Late? Miocene of C Europe) and "A." meyerii (Middle Miocene of Öhningen, Germany; possibly the same species) do not seem to belong Anas, and they may be ancestral dabbling ducks.[22]

Anas elapsum (Late Pleistocene of Australia) is now synonymised with the extant Hardhead.[23] Anas gracilipes and Anas strenuum (Late Pleistocene of Australia) are both junior synonyms of the extant Chestnut teal.[23]

Highly problematic, albeit in a theoretical sense, is the placement of the moa-nalos. These may be descended from a common ancestor of dabbling ducks such as the Pacific black duck, Laysan duck, and mallard. Phylogenetically, they may even form a clade within the traditional genus Anas.[24] However, when compared to these species – which are representative of dabbling ducks in general – the moa-nalos are a radical departure from the Anseriforme bauplan. This illustrates that in a truly evolutionary sense, a strictly phylogenetic taxonomy may be difficult to apply.[citation needed]

See also

References

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