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Wildfowl
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 monogamous breeders. A number of species undertake annual migrations. A few species have been domesticated for agriculture, and many others are hunted for food and recreation. Five species have become extinct since 1600, and many more are threatened with extinction. Description and ecology The ducks, geese, and swans are small- to large-sized birds with a broad and elongated general body plan. Diving species vary from this in being rounder. Extant specie ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Early Oligocene
The Rupelian is, in the geologic timescale, the older of two ages or the lower of two stages of the Oligocene Epoch/Series. It spans the time between . It is preceded by the Priabonian Stage (part of the Eocene) and is followed by the Chattian Stage. Name The stage is named after the small river Rupel in Belgium, a tributary to the Scheldt. The Belgian Rupel Group derives its name from the same source. The name Rupelian was introduced in scientific literature by Belgian geologist André Hubert Dumont in 1850. The separation between the group and the stage was made in the second half of the 20th century, when stratigraphers saw the need to distinguish between lithostratigraphic and chronostratigraphic names. Stratigraphic definition The base of the Rupelian Stage (which is also the base of the Oligocene Series) is at the extinction of the foraminiferan genus ''Hantkenina''. An official GSSP for the base of the Rupelian has been assigned in 1992 (Massignano, Italy). The transi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mergus
''Mergus'' is the genus of the typical mergansers , fish-eating ducks in the subfamily Anatinae. The genus name is a Latin word used by Pliny the Elder and other Roman authors to refer to an unspecified waterbird. The common merganser (''Mergus merganser'') and red-breasted merganser (''M. serrator'') have broad ranges in the northern hemisphere. The Brazilian merganser (''M. octosetaceus'') is a South American duck, and one of the six most threatened waterfowl in the world, with possibly fewer than 250 birds in the wild. The scaly-sided merganser or "Chinese merganser" (''M. squamatus'') is an endangered species. It lives in temperate East Asia, breeding in the north and wintering in the south. The hooded merganser (''Lophodytes cucullatus'', formerly known as ''Mergus cucullatus'') is not of this genus but is closely related. The other "aberrant" merganser, the smew (''Mergellus albellus''), is phylogenetically closer to goldeneyes (''Bucephala''). Although they are seaduck ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mergellus
''Mergellus'' is a genus of duck. The smew ''(Mergellus albellus)'' is the only living species, but an extinct species known as '' Mergellus mochanovi'' has also been described from Late Pleistocene deposits in the Yakutia region of Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig .... References {{Taxonbar, from=Q10792772 Bird genera Bird genera with one living species Taxa named by Prideaux John Selby Anatinae ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Melanitta
The scoters are stocky seaducks in the genus ''Melanitta''. The drakes are mostly black and have swollen bills, the females are brown. They breed in the far north of Europe, Asia, and North America, and winter farther south in temperate zones of those continents. They form large flocks on suitable coastal waters. These are tightly packed, and the birds tend to take off together. Their lined nests are built on the ground close to the sea, lakes or rivers, in woodland or tundra. These species dive for crustaceans and molluscs. Taxonomy The genus ''Melanitta'' was introduced by the German zoologist Friedrich Boie in 1822. The type species was designated in 1838 as the velvet scoter by Thomas Campbell Eyton. The genus name combines the Ancient Greek ''melas'' meaning "black" and ''netta'' meaning "duck". The genus contains six species: The presumed fossil "scoter" ''Melanitta ceruttii'', which lived in California during the Late Pliocene, is now placed in the genus ''Histrionicus ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lophodytes
The hooded merganser (''Lophodytes cucullatus'') is a species of merganser. It is the only extant species in the genus ''Lophodytes''. The genus name derives from the Greek language: ''lophos'' meaning 'crest', and ''dutes'' meaning 'diver'. The bird is striking in appearance; both sexes have crests that they can raise or lower, and the breeding plumage of the male is handsomely patterned and coloured. The hooded merganser has a sawbill but is not classified as a typical merganser. Hooded mergansers are the second-smallest species of merganser, with only the smew of Europe and Asia being smaller, and it also is the only merganser whose native habitat is restricted to North America. A species of fossil merganser from the Late Pleistocene of Vero Beach, Florida, was described as ''Querquedula floridana'' (a genus now included in ''Anas''), but upon reexamination turned out to be a species closely related to the hooded merganser; it is now named ''Lophodytes floridanus'', but th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Histrionicus
The harlequin duck (''Histrionicus histrionicus'') is a small sea duck. It takes its name from Harlequin (French ''Arlequin'', Italian ''Arlecchino''), a colourfully dressed character in Commedia dell'arte. The species name comes from the Latin word "histrio", meaning "actor". In North America it is also known as lords and ladies. Other names include painted duck, totem pole duck, rock duck, glacier duck, mountain duck, white-eyed diver, squeaker and blue streak. Taxonomy In 1747 the English naturalist George Edwards included an illustration and a description of the harlequin duck in the second volume of his ''A Natural History of Uncommon Birds''. He used the English name "The Dusky and Spotted Duck". Edwards based his hand-coloured etching on a preserved specimen that had been brought to London from Newfoundland in eastern Canada. When in 1758 the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus updated his '' Systema Naturae'' for the tenth edition, he placed the harlequin duck with the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Clangula
The long-tailed duck (''Clangula hyemalis''), formerly known as oldsquaw, is a medium-sized sea duck that breeds in the tundra and taiga regions of the arctic and winters along the northern coastlines of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. It is the only member of the genus ''Clangula''. Taxonomy The long-tailed duck was formally described by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1758 in the tenth edition of his '' Systema Naturae''. He placed it with all the other ducks in the genus ''Anas'' and coined the binomial name ''Anas hyemalis''. Linnaeus cited the English naturalist George Edwards's description and illustration of the "Long-tailed duck from Hudson's-Bay" that had been published in 1750 in the third volume of his ''A Natural History of Uncommon Birds''. This duck is now the only species placed in the genus ''Clangula'' that was introduced in 1819 to accommodate the long-tailed duck by the English zoologist William Leach in an appendix to John Ross's account of his ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Goldeneye (duck)
''Bucephala'' is a genus of diving ducks found in the Northern Hemisphere. Taxonomy The genus ''Bucephala'' was introduced in 1858 by American naturalist Spencer Baird with the bufflehead as the type species. The genus name is derived from Ancient Greek ''boukephalos'', meaning "bullheaded", from ''bous'' "bull", and ''kephale'', "head", a reference to the crest of the bufflehead making its head look large. The bufflehead was formerly treated as the only member of the genus (sometimes unnecessarily changed to ''Charitonetta'') while the goldeneyes were incorrectly placed in ''Clangula'' (as ''Clangula americana''), the genus of the long-tailed duck, which at that time was placed in ''Harelda''.Report of the National conference on utilization of forest products. New national museum, Washington, DC, November 19 and 20, 1924. Issue 13. US Govt. print. off. 1925. It may yet be correct to recognise two genera, as the bufflehead and the two goldeneyes are well diverged. In this case, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mergini
The sea ducks (''Mergini'') are a tribe of the duck subfamily of birds, the Anatinae. The taxonomy of this group is incomplete. Some authorities separate the group as a subfamily, while others remove some genera. Most species within the group spend their winters near coastal waters. Many species have developed specialized salt glands to allow them to tolerate salt water, but these are poorly developed in juveniles. Some of the species prefer riverine habitats. All but two of the 22 species in this group live in far northern latitudes. The fish-eating members of this group, such as the mergansers and smew, have serrated edges to their bills to help them grip their prey and are often known as "sawbills". Other sea ducks forage by diving underwater, taking molluscs or crustaceans from the sea floor. The Mergini take on the eclipse plumage during the late summer and molt into their breeding plumage during the winter. Species There are twenty-two species in ten genera: *Genus ''Clang ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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