Anatidae

Fulvous whistling duck Dendrocygna bicolor, photographed by Duncan Wright.

Belongs within: Anseres.
Contains: Anatinae, Anserinae.

The family Anatidae contains the waterfowl: ducks, geese and swans. These are swimming birds with relatively short legs, front toes connected by a web, rather long necks and broad bills (Austin 1961). Recent phylogenies agree in placing the whistling ducks of the Dendrocygninae as the sister taxon to the remaining anatids. Whistling ducks are a group of relatively long-legged ducks found in the tropics and subtropics, named for their whistling cries in flight.

Of somewhat more uncertain affinities are the stiff-tailed ducks of the Oxyurini, highly aquatic small ducks with thick necks. The feet of stiff-tailed ducks are placed particularly far back on the body, meaning they can move only awkwardly on land (Austin 1961). The musk duck Biziura lobata is a large Australian duck that may or may not be allied to the stiff-tailed ducks; males of this species are marked by a large bulbous sac of skin that hangs below the bill. The white-backed duck Thalassornis leuconotus of Africa has been variously placed with either the Oxyurini or Dendrocygninae.

Anatidae [Anseridae, Lamellirostres, Mergidae]
    |--Dendrocygninae [Dendrocygnidae, Dendrocygnini] SC99
    |    |--Thalassornis Eyton 1838 [Thalassornithinae] B94
    |    |    `--T. leuconotus BKB15
    |    |--Cygnavus Lambrecht 1931 M02
    |    |    |--*C. senckenbergi Lambrecht 1931 [incl. Cygnopterus alphonsi Cheneval 1984] M02
    |    |    `--C. formosus Kurochkin 1968 M09
    |    `--Dendrocygna Swainson 1837 [incl. Leptotarsis Eyton 1838] CC10
    |         |  i. s.: D. fulva S66
    |         |         D. major S66
    |         |         D. vagans [incl. D. gouldi] S66
    |         |         D. virgata S66
    |         |--+--D. arborea BKB15
    |         |  `--D. autumnalis BKB15
    |         `--+--D. viduata BKB15
    |            `--+--D. eytoni (Eyton 1838) BKB15, CC10 (see below for synonymy)
    |               `--+--D. bicolor (Vieillot 1816) BKB15, CS77
    |                  `--+--D. guttata BKB15
    |                     `--+--*D. arcuata (Horsfield 1824) CC10, BKB15, WS48 [=Anas arcuata CC10]
    |                        |    |--D. a. arcuata WS48
    |                        |    |--D. a. australis Reichenbach 1850 [incl. D. javanica peroni Mathews 1912] WS48
    |                        |    `--D. a. pygmaea RN72
    |                        `--D. javanica BKB15
    `--+--Biziura Stephens in Shaw 1824 BKB15, CC10 [Biziurinae]
       |    |--B. lobata (Shaw in Shaw & Nodder 1796) CC10 (see below for synonymy)
       |    `--B. delautouri Forbes 1892 [=B. lautouri Forbes 1892] CC10
       `--+--Anatinae BKB15
          `--+--Anserinae BKB15
             `--Oxyurini [Erismaturinae, Oxyurinae] SC99
                  |  i. s.: Mionetta Livezey & Martin 1988 CC10, M05
                  |           |--*M. blanchardi (Milne-Edwards 1863) (see below for synonymy) M02
                  |           |--M. natator (Milne-Edwards 1867) (see below for synonymy) M02
                  |           `--M. robusta (Milne-Edwards 1868) [=Anas robusta, Anserobranta robusta] M02
                  |         Manuherikia Worthy, Tennyson et al. 2007 CC10
                  |           |--*M. lacustrina Worthy, Tennyson et al. 2007 CC10
                  |           |--M. douglasi Worthy, Tennyson et al. 2008 CC10
                  |           `--M. minuta Worthy, Tennyson et al. 2007 CC10
                  |         Dunstanetta Worthy, Tennyson et al. 2007 CC10
                  |           `--*D. johnstoneorum Worthy, Tennyson et al. 2007 CC10
                  |--Nettapus Brandt 1836 JT12, B94 [incl. Cheniscus Eyton 1838 B94; Cheniscinae, Nettapodinae]
                  |    |  i. s.: N. auritus JT12
                  |    |--N. pulchellus Gould 1842 JT12, WS48 [incl. Cheniscus pulchellus rogersi Mathews 1916 WS48]
                  |    `--+--N. coromandelianus JT12
                  |       |    |--N. c. coromandelianus RN72
                  |       |    `--N. c. albipennis RN72
                  |       `--Heteronetta Salvadori 1865 BKB15, B94 [Heteronettinae]
                  |            `--H. atricapilla BKB15
                  `--+--Nomonyx dominicus BKB15
                     `--Oxyura Bonaparte 1828 BKB15, CC10 [=Erismatura Bonaparte 1832 CC10]
                          |  i. s.: O. doksana Mlíkovský 2002 M02
                          |         O. dominica RN72
                          |         O. vantetsi Worthy 2005 CC10
                          |--O. vittata BKB15 [=O. jamaicensis vittata RN72]
                          `--+--+--O. ferruginea (Eyton 1838) BKB15, CS77 [=O. jamaicensis ferruginea CS77]
                             |  `--O. jamaicensis (Gmelin 1789) BKB15, CS77 (see below for synonymy)
                             |       |--O. j. jamaicensis CS77
                             |       `--O. j. andina Lehmann 1946 CS77
                             `--+--O. leucocephala (Scopoli 1769) BKB15, M02 [=Anas leucocephala M02]
                                `--+--O. australis Gould 1837 BKB15, CC10
                                   `--O. maccoa BKB15

Anatidae incertae sedis:
  Philacte canagica A61
  Eonessa anaticula Wetmore 1939 M09
  Dendrochen Miller 1944 M02
    `--*D. robusta Miller 1944 M02
  Chendytes lawi CG99
  Chenalopex jubatus SS66
  Cygnopterus Lambrecht 1931 M02
    `--*C. affinis (Beneden 1883) (see below for synonymy) M02
  Eoneornis Ameghino 1894 A94
    `--*E. australis Ameghino 1894 A94
  Eutelornis Ameghino 1894 A94
    `--*E. patagonicus Ameghino 1894 A94
  Eunetta falcata L81
  Talpanas Olson & James in Iwaniuk, Olson & James 2009 IOJ09
    `--*T. lippa Olson & James in Iwaniuk, Olson & James 2009 M09, IOJ09
  Palaeopapia Harrison & Walker 1979 [=Howardia Harrison & Walker 1976 non Berlese & Leonardi 1896] M02
    `--*P. eous (Harrison & Walker 1976) [=*Howardia eous] M02
  Teleornis impressus Ameghino 1899 M09
  Chaulelasmus streperus PB27

Biziura lobata (Shaw in Shaw & Nodder 1796) CC10 [=Anas lobata CC10; incl. *B. novaehollandiae CC10, B. lobata westralis Mathews 1912 WS48]

*Cygnopterus affinis (Beneden 1883) [=Sula affinis; incl. Palaeopapia hamsteadiensis Harrison & Walker 1979] M02

Dendrocygna eytoni (Eyton 1838) BKB15, CC10 [=*Leptotarsis eytoni CC10; incl. D. eytoni munna Mathews 1912 CC10]

*Mionetta blanchardi (Milne-Edwards 1863) [=Anas blanchardi, Dendrochen blanchardi; incl. Fuligula arvernensis Lydekker 1891, Aythya arvernensis, Anas consobrina Milne-Edwards 1867, Dendrochen consobrina, Mionetta consobrina, Anas macroptera Milne-Edwards 1871 (n. n.)] M02

Mionetta natator (Milne-Edwards 1867) [=Anas natator, Dendrochen natator, Querquedula natator] M02

Oxyura jamaicensis (Gmelin 1789) BKB15, CS77 [=Anas jamaicensis CS77; incl. A. rubidus Wilson 1841 CC10, CS77, *Erismatura rubida CC10, *Oxyura jamaicensis rubida CC10, CS77]

*Type species of generic name indicated

REFERENCES

[A94] Ameghino, F. 1894. Sur les oiseaux fossiles de Patagonie et la aune mammalogique des couches a Pyrotherium. Boletín del Instituto Geográfico Argentino 15 (11–12): 501–602.

[A61] Austin, O. L., Jr. 1961. Birds of the World: A survey of the twenty-seven orders and one hundred and fifty-five families. Paul Hamlyn: London.

[B94] Bock, W. J. 1994. History and nomenclature of avian family-group names. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 222: 1–281.

[BKB15] Burleigh, J. G., R. T. Kimball & E. L. Braun. 2015. Building the avian tree of life using a large-scale, sparse supermatrix. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 84: 53–63.

[CG99] Carlton, J. T., J. B. Geller, M. L. Reaka-Kudla & E. A. Norse. 1999. Historical extinctions in the sea. Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics 30: 315–338.

[CC10] Checklist Committee (OSNZ). 2010. Checklist of the Birds of New Zealand, Norfolk and Macquarie Islands, and the Ross Dependency, Antarctica 4^th ed. Ornithological Society of New Zealand and Te Papa Press: Wellington.

[CS77] Cramp, S., & K. E. L. Simmons (eds) 1977. Handbook of the Birds of Europe, the Middle East and North Africa: The Birds of the Western Palaearctic vol. 1. Ostrich to Ducks. Oxford University Press: Oxford.

[IOJ09] Iwaniuk, A. N., S. L. Olson & H. F. James. 2009. Extraordinary cranial specialization in a new genus of extinct duck (Aves: Anseriformes) from Kauai, Hawaiian Islands. Zootaxa 2296: 47–67.

[JT12] Jetz, W., G. H. Thomas, J. B. Joy, K. Hartmann & A. Ø. Mooers. 2012. The global diversity of birds in space and time. Nature 491: 444–448.

[L81] Long, J. L. 1981. Introduced Birds of the World: The worldwide history, distribution and influence of birds introduced to new environments. Reed: Sydney.

[M05] Mayr, G. 2005. The Paleogene fossil record of birds in Europe. Biological Reviews 80: 515–542.

[M09] Mayr, G. 2009. Paleogene Fossil Birds. Springer.

[M02] Mlíkovský, J. 2002. Cenozoic Birds of the World. Part 1: Europe. Ninox Press: Praha.

[PB27] Pilsbry, H. A., & J. Bequaert. 1927. The aquatic mollusks of the Belgian Congo, with a geographical and ecological account of Congo malacology. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 53 (2): 69–602, pls 10–77.

[RN72] Rutgers, A., & K. A. Norris (eds) 1972. Encyclopaedia of Aviculture vol. 1. London, Blandford Press.

[S66] Sclater, P. L. 1866. Additional notes on the Anatidae of the genera Dendrocygna and Tadorna. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 1866: 148–150.

[SS66] Sclater, P. L., & O. Salvin. 1866. Catalogue of birds collected by Mr. E. Bartlett on the River Uyacali, Eastern Peru, with notes and descriptions of new species. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 1866: 175–201.

[SC99] Sorenson, M. D., A. Cooper, E. E. Paxinos, T. W. Quinn, H. F. James, S. L. Olson & R. C. Fleischer. 1999. Relationships of the extinct moa-nalos, flightless Hawaiian waterfowl, based on ancient DNA. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London Series B—Biological Sciences 266: 2187–2193.

[WS48] Whittell, H. M., & D. L. Serventy. 1948. A systematic list of the birds of Western Australia. Public Library, Museum and Art Gallery of Western Australia, Special Publication 1: 1–126.

Last updated: 27 November 2021.