The Anserinae are a
subfamily in the
waterfowl
Anseriformes is an order of birds also known as waterfowl that comprises about 180 living species of birds in three families: Anhimidae (three species of screamers), Anseranatidae (the magpie goose), and Anatidae, the largest family, which i ...
family
Anatidae
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 ...
. It includes the
swans and true
geese
A goose ( : geese) is a bird of any of several waterfowl species in the family Anatidae. This group comprises the genera '' Anser'' (the grey geese and white geese) and ''Branta'' (the black geese). Some other birds, mostly related to the she ...
. Under alternative
systematical concepts (see e.g., Terres & NAS, 1991), it is split into two subfamilies, the Anserinae contain the geese and the ducks, while the Cygninae contain the swans.
Systematics
Swans (Tribe
Cygnini
Swans are birds of the family Anatidae within the genus ''Cygnus''. The swans' closest relatives include the geese and ducks. Swans are grouped with the closely related geese in the subfamily Anserinae where they form the tribe Cygnini. Sometim ...
)
*Genus ''
Cygnus'' – true swans: The black-and-yellow-billed swans are sometimes separated in the genus ''Olor''.
*Genus †''
Afrocygnus
''Afrocygnus'' is an extinct genus of swan, which lived during the Late Miocene, and perhaps up to the Late Pliocene, in what is today North Africa. The only genus of swan known in Africa, aside from fragmentary Pleistocene remains found in East ...
'' (
Miocene
The Miocene ( ) is the first epoch (geology), geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about (Ma). The Miocene was named by Scottish geologist Charles Lyell; the name comes from the Greek words (', "less") and (', "new") and mea ...
of
North Africa
North Africa, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in ...
)
*Genus †''
Annakacygna –'' short-winged swans (Miocene of
Japan)
*Genus †''
Megalodytes'' (Miocene of Japan and
California
California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...
)
True geese (Tribe Anserini)
*Genus ''
Anser
Anser may refer to:
People
* Anser (poet), poet of ancient Rome
* Anser Farooq, Canadian lawyer
Other uses
* ANSER, a security and defense analysis group
* ''Anser'' (bird), a genus of geese
* Anser (putter), a model of golf club made by Pi ...
'' – grey and white geese
*Genus ''
Branta'' – black geese
Unresolved
*Genus ''
Coscoroba
The coscoroba swan (''Coscoroba coscoroba'') is a species of waterfowl in subfamily Anserinae of the family Anatidae.HBW and BirdLife International (2021) Handbook of the Birds of the World and BirdLife International digital checklist of the bi ...
'' – coscoroba swan
These two genera are distinct from other geese and often elevated to a subfamily of their own (Cereopsinae), or alternatively into the
shelduck
The shelducks, most species of which are found in the genus ''Tadorna'' (except for the Radjah shelduck, which is now found in its own monotypic genus ''Radjah''), are a group of large birds in the Tadorninae subfamily of the Anatidae, the biolog ...
subfamily Tadorninae:
Tribe Cereopseini
*Genus ''
Cereopsis
The Cape Barren goose (''Cereopsis novaehollandiae'') is a large goose resident in southern Australia.
Etymology
The species' common name is derived from Cape Barren Island, where specimens were first sighted by European explorers. It is known ...
'' – Cape Barren goose
*Genus †''
Cnemiornis
The New Zealand goose is the common name given to the extinct genus ''Cnemiornis'' of the family Anatidae, subfamily Anserinae.
The genus, endemic to New Zealand, consisted of two species: the North Island goose, ''C. gracilis'' and the ...
'' – New Zealand geese (
prehistoric)
Some enigmatic
subfossils of very large goose-like birds from the
Hawaiian Islands do not appear to be
moa-nalos (goose-sized
dabbling ducks). They cannot be assigned to any genus living today, though most, if not all, may be fairly close to ''Branta'':
* ''
Geochen rhuax'' – initially allied with ''Cereopsis'', but this seems hardly correct for reasons of
biogeography.
*
Giant Hawaiʻi goose, ?''Branta'' sp.
* Giant Oʻahu goose,
Anatidae
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 ...
sp. et gen. indet.
References
* Terres, John K. &
National Audubon Society (1991): ''The Audubon Society Encyclopedia of North American Birds''. Wings Books, New York.
Further reading
*
External links
{{Authority control
Bird subfamilies
Extant Miocene first appearances
Taxa named by Nicholas Aylward Vigors