All Topics  
Anas

 
Anas

 
   Email Print
   Bookmark   Link
 

 

Anas
 
 
  Topics Anas Topic Home

Anas is a genus
Genus

A genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the classification of living and fossil organisms. The taxonomic ranks are domain , kingdom , phylum, class , order , family , genus, and species....
 of dabbling ducks. It includes mallard
Mallard

The Mallard , probably the best-known and most recognizable of all ducks, is a dabbling duck which breeds throughout the temperate and sub-tropical areas of North America, Europe, Asia, New Zealand , and Australia....
s, wigeon
Wigeon

The Wigeon or Eurasian Wigeon is one of three species of wigeon in the dabbling duck genus Anas. It is common and widespread within its range....
s, teal
Teal

Teal may mean:* Teal , a greenish dark-blue color* Various ducks:** Black Teal, Aythya novaeseelandiae** Blue-winged Teal, Anas discors...
s, pintail
Pintail

Pintail may refer to:In ducks:* Eaton's Pintail , a dabbling duck* Northern Pintail , a widely-occurring duck* South Georgia Pintail, is the nominate race of the Yellow-billed Pintail...
s and shoveler
Shoveler

The shovelers, formerly known as shovellers, are four species of dabbling ducks with long, broad spatula-shaped beaks:* Red Shoveler, Anas platalea...
s in a number of subgenera
Subgenus

In biology, a subgenus is a taxonomic rank directly below genus. See rank and rank .In ICZN, a subgeneric name can be used independently or included in a binomen, in parentheses, placed between the name of a biological genus and specific name: e.g....
. Some authorities prefer to elevate the subgenera to genus rank. Indeed, as the moa-nalo
Moa-nalo

Moa-nalo are a group of extinct aberrant, goose-like ducks that formerly lived on the Hawaiian Islands in the Pacific. They were the major herbivores on most of these islands for the last 3 million years or so, until they became extinct after human settlement....
s are very close to this clade and may have evolved later than some of these lineages, it is rather the absence of a thorough review than lack of necessity that this genus is rather over-lumped
Lumpers and splitters

Lumping and splitting refers to a well known problem in any discipline which has to place individual examples into rigorously defined categories....
.

phylogeny of this genus is one of the most confounded ones of all living birds.






Discussion
Ask a question about 'Anas'
Start a new discussion about 'Anas'
Answer questions from other users
Full Discussion Forum



Encyclopedia


Anas is a genus
Genus

A genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the classification of living and fossil organisms. The taxonomic ranks are domain , kingdom , phylum, class , order , family , genus, and species....
 of dabbling ducks. It includes mallard
Mallard

The Mallard , probably the best-known and most recognizable of all ducks, is a dabbling duck which breeds throughout the temperate and sub-tropical areas of North America, Europe, Asia, New Zealand , and Australia....
s, wigeon
Wigeon

The Wigeon or Eurasian Wigeon is one of three species of wigeon in the dabbling duck genus Anas. It is common and widespread within its range....
s, teal
Teal

Teal may mean:* Teal , a greenish dark-blue color* Various ducks:** Black Teal, Aythya novaeseelandiae** Blue-winged Teal, Anas discors...
s, pintail
Pintail

Pintail may refer to:In ducks:* Eaton's Pintail , a dabbling duck* Northern Pintail , a widely-occurring duck* South Georgia Pintail, is the nominate race of the Yellow-billed Pintail...
s and shoveler
Shoveler

The shovelers, formerly known as shovellers, are four species of dabbling ducks with long, broad spatula-shaped beaks:* Red Shoveler, Anas platalea...
s in a number of subgenera
Subgenus

In biology, a subgenus is a taxonomic rank directly below genus. See rank and rank .In ICZN, a subgeneric name can be used independently or included in a binomen, in parentheses, placed between the name of a biological genus and specific name: e.g....
. Some authorities prefer to elevate the subgenera to genus rank. Indeed, as the moa-nalo
Moa-nalo

Moa-nalo are a group of extinct aberrant, goose-like ducks that formerly lived on the Hawaiian Islands in the Pacific. They were the major herbivores on most of these islands for the last 3 million years or so, until they became extinct after human settlement....
s are very close to this clade and may have evolved later than some of these lineages, it is rather the absence of a thorough review than lack of necessity that this genus is rather over-lumped
Lumpers and splitters

Lumping and splitting refers to a well known problem in any discipline which has to place individual examples into rigorously defined categories....
.

Systematics

.The phylogeny of this genus is one of the most confounded ones of all living birds. Research is hampered by the fact the radiation of the two major groups of Anas - the teal
Teal

Teal may mean:* Teal , a greenish dark-blue color* Various ducks:** Black Teal, Aythya novaeseelandiae** Blue-winged Teal, Anas discors...
s and mallard groups -; took place in a very short time and fairly recently, roughly in the mid-late Pleistocene
Pleistocene

The Pleistocene is the epoch from 1.8 million to 10,000 years Before Present covering the world's recent period of repeated glaciations. The name pleistocene is derived from the Greek and ....
. Furthermore, hybridization probably has long played a major role
Bird hybrid

A bird hybrid is basically a bird that has two different species as parents. The resulting bird can present with any combination of characters from the parent species, from totally identical to completely different....
 in Anas evolution, with within-subgenus hybrids regularly and between-subgenus hybrids not infrequently being fully fertile see also Mariana Mallard
Mariana Mallard

The Mariana Mallard or Oustalet's Gray Duck is an extinct species of duck of the genus Anas that was endemism to the Mariana Islands. It is sometimes treated as a subspecies of the Mallard or the Pacific Black Duck, or the Spot-billed Duck ....
. The relationships between species are much obscured by this fact, and mtDNA sequence
DNA sequence

A DNA sequence or genetic sequence is a succession of letters representing the primary structure of a real or hypothetical DNA molecule or strand, with the capacity to carry information as described by the central dogma of molecular biology....
 data is of dubious value in resolving their relationships; on the other hand, nuclear DNA
Nuclear DNA

Nuclear DNA, nuclear deoxyribonucleic acid , is DNA contained within a cell nucleus of eukaryote. In most cases it encodes more of the genome than the mitochondrial DNA and is passed sexually rather than matrilineally....
 sequences evolve too slowly to resolve the phylogeny of the subgenus Anas for example.

Some major clades can be discerned. For example, that the traditional subgenus
Subgenus

In biology, a subgenus is a taxonomic rank directly below genus. See rank and rank .In ICZN, a subgeneric name can be used independently or included in a binomen, in parentheses, placed between the name of a biological genus and specific name: e.g....
 Anas, the mallard group, forms a monophyletic (in the loose sense, i.e. non-holophyletic) group has never been seriously questioned by modern science and is as good as confirmed (but see below). On the other hand, the phylogeny of the teals is very confusing.

It is fairly clear by now that the dabbling duck lineages more distantly related to mallard group (which includes the type species
Type species

In taxonomy, a type species is the species that originally defined a genus . It is an individual specimen that fixes the name of a genus . Two different definitions are used interchangeably, in a general term and a botanical term....
 of Anas) than the wigeons are should arguably be separated in their own genera. These would include the Baikal Teal
Baikal Teal

The Baikal Teal is a dabbling duck that breeds within the forest zone of eastern Siberia from the Yenisey basin eastwards to Kamchatka Peninsula, northern Koryak Autonomous Okrug, eastern Magadan Oblast, northern Khabarovsk Krai, southeastern and northern Sakha Republic east central Irkutsk Oblast, and northern Krasnoyarsk Krai It is a bird...
, the Garganey
Garganey

The Garganey, Anas querquedula is a small dabbling duck. It breeds in much of Europe and western Asia, but is strictly bird migration, with the entire population moving to southern Africa and Australasia in winter, where large flocks can occur....
, the spotted black-capped Punanetta group, and the shovelers and other blue-winged species. Whether the widgeons, which are very distinct in morphology
Morphology (biology)

The term morphology in biology refers to form, structure and configuration of an organism. This includes aspects of the outward appearance as well as the form and structure of the internal parts like bones and organs....
 and behavior, but much less so in mtDNA cytochrome b
Cytochrome b

Cytochrome b/b6 is main subunit of transmembrane cytochrome bc1 complex and Cytochrome b6f complex complexes.In the mitochondrion of eukaryotes and in aerobic prokaryotes, cytochrome b is a component of respiratory chain complex III - also known as the bc1 complex or ubiquinol-cytochrome c reductase....
 and NADH dehydrogenase
NADH dehydrogenase

NADH dehydrogenase is an enzyme located in the inner mitochondria membrane that catalyzes the transfer of electrons from NADH to coenzyme Q ....
 subunit 2 sequence
DNA sequence

A DNA sequence or genetic sequence is a succession of letters representing the primary structure of a real or hypothetical DNA molecule or strand, with the capacity to carry information as described by the central dogma of molecular biology....
s, should also be considered a distinct genus Mareca (including the Gadwall and Falcated Duck) is essentially the one remaining point of dispute as regards the question which taxa should remain in this genus and which ones should not.

Species

The following arrangement is based on morphological, molecular and behavioral characters and presents apparent major evolutionary groupings compared to the subgenera the species were placed in at one time or another.

Probable genus Sibirionetta - Baikal Teal
  • Baikal Teal
    Baikal Teal

    The Baikal Teal is a dabbling duck that breeds within the forest zone of eastern Siberia from the Yenisey basin eastwards to Kamchatka Peninsula, northern Koryak Autonomous Okrug, eastern Magadan Oblast, northern Khabarovsk Krai, southeastern and northern Sakha Republic east central Irkutsk Oblast, and northern Krasnoyarsk Krai It is a bird...
    , Anas formosa (formerly in Nettion)


Probable genus Querquedula - Garganey (may include Punanetta)
  • Garganey
    Garganey

    The Garganey, Anas querquedula is a small dabbling duck. It breeds in much of Europe and western Asia, but is strictly bird migration, with the entire population moving to southern Africa and Australasia in winter, where large flocks can occur....
    , Anas querquedula


Probable genus Punanetta
  • Silver Teal
    Silver Teal

    The Silver Teal is a species of dabbling duck in the genus Anas. It breeds in South America. It lives on fresh water in small groups, and feeds primarily on vegetable matter such as seeds and aquatic plants....
    , Anas versicolor
  • Puna Teal
    Puna Teal

    The Puna Teal is a species of dabbling duck in the genus Anas. It was previously regarded as a subspecies of the Silver Teal.The Puna Teal is resident in the Andes of Peru, western Bolivia, northern Chile, and extreme northwestern Argentina....
    , Anas puna - formerly included in Anas versicolor
  • Hottentot Teal
    Hottentot Teal

    The Hottentot Teal is a species of dabbling duck of the genus Anas. It is migratory resident in eastern and southern Africa, from Sudan and Ethiopia west to Niger and Nigeria and south to South Africa and Namibia....
    , Anas hottentota


Probable genus Spatula - blue-winged ducks/shovelers and allies (polyphyletic?)
  • Blue-winged Teal
    Blue-winged Teal

    The Blue-winged Teal is a small dabbling duck. Its placement in Anas is by no means certain; a member of the "blue-winged" group also including the shovelers, it may be better placed in Spatula....
    , Anas discors
  • Cinnamon Teal
    Cinnamon Teal

    The Cinnamon Teal, Anas cyanoptera, is a small dabbling duck from the Americas,and its status is Least Concern.The adult male has a cinnamon-red head and body with a brown back, a red eye and a dark bill....
    , Anas cyanoptera
    • Borrero's Cinnamon Teal, Anas cyanoptera borreroi - possibly extinct (late 20th century?)
  • Red Shoveler
    Red Shoveler

    The Red Shoveler , formerly known as Red Shoveller, is a species of dabbling duck of the genus Anas. It is found in southern South America, in Argentina, southern Peru], southern Bolivia, Uruguay, Paraguay, the Falkland Islands, South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands, southern Brazil, and Chile....
    , Anas platalea
  • Cape Shoveler
    Cape Shoveler

    The Cape Shoveler Anas smithii formerly known as Cape Shoveller is a species of dabbling duck of the genus Anas. It is resident in South Africa, and uncommon further north in Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, southern Angola, Lesotho, Mozambique, and Zambia....
    , Anas smithii
  • Australasian Shoveler
    Australasian Shoveler

    The Australasian Shoveler is a species of dabbling duck in the genus Anas. It ranges from 46-53 cm. It lives in heavily vegetated swamps....
    , Anas rhynchotis
  • Northern Shoveler
    Northern Shoveler

    The Northern Shoveler , sometimes known simply as the Shoveler , is a common and widespread duck. It breeds in northern areas of Europe and Asia and across most of North America, and is a rare vagrant to Australia....
    , Anas clypeata


Possible genus Mareca - wigeon
Wigeon

The Wigeon or Eurasian Wigeon is one of three species of wigeon in the dabbling duck genus Anas. It is common and widespread within its range....
s (may include Chaulelasmus and Eunetta)
  • Eurasian Wigeon, Anas penelope
  • Amsterdam Island Duck
    Amsterdam Island Duck

    The Amsterdam Island Duck was a species of waterfowl in the Anatidae family. It was Endemism to ?le Amsterdam , French Southern Territories. This flightless species is only known from bones and was presumably driven to extinction by whalers visting the island.....
    , Anas marecula - tentatively placed here; extinct (c.1800)
  • American Wigeon
    American Wigeon

    The American Wigeon , Anas americana is a species of wigeon in the dabbling duck genus Anas. If this is split up, all wigeons will go into their old genus Mareca again....
    , Anas americana
  • Chiloe Wigeon
    Chiloe Wigeon

    The Chil?e Wigeon is one of three species of wigeon in the dabbling duck genus Anas. Unlike other wigeons, the sexes are similar and pairs are monogamous....
    , Anas sibilatrix


Subgenus Chaulelasmus - Gadwall
  • Gadwall
    Gadwall

    The Gadwall, Anas strepera is a common and widespread duck of the family Anatidae. This species was first described by Carolus Linnaeus in his Systema naturae in 1758 under its current scientific name....
    , Anas strepera
    • Coues' Gadwall
      Coues' Gadwall

      Coues' Gadwall or Washington Island Gadwall is an extinct dabbling duck which is only known by two immature specimens from the Pacific island of Teraina Line Islands, Kiribati ....
       or Washington Island Gadwall, Anas strepera couesi - extinct (late 19th century)


Subgenus Eunetta - Falcated Duck
  • Falcated Duck
    Falcated Duck

    The Falcated Duck or Falcated Teal is a Gadwall-sized dabbling duck....
    , Anas falcata


Subgenus Dafila - pintails
  • Northern Pintail
    Northern Pintail

    The Pintail or Northern Pintail is a widely-occurring duck which breeds in the northern areas of Europe, Asia and North America. It is strongly bird migration and winters south of its breeding range to the equator....
    , Anas acuta
  • Eaton's Pintail
    Eaton's Pintail

    The Eaton's Pintail is a dabbling duck of the genus Anas. The species is restricted to the island groups of Kerguelen and Crozet Islands in the southern Indian Ocean....
    , Anas eatoni
    • Kerguelen Islands Pintail, Anas eatoni eatoni
    • Crozet Islands Pintail, Anas eatoni drygalskii
  • Yellow-billed Pintail
    Yellow-billed Pintail

    The Yellow-billed Pintail is a dabbling duck of the genus Anas.Its range includes Peru, Paraguay, Brazil, and Ecuador They also inhabit some of the subantarctic islands including South Georgia, which lends its name to the species....
    , Anas georgica
    • South Georgia Pintail
      South Georgia Pintail

      The South Georgia Pintail ' is the nominate race of the Yellow-billed Pintail '. It lives solely on the outer Antarctic South Georgia....
      , Anas georgica georgica** Niceforo's Pintail, Anas georgica niceforoi - extinct (1950s)
  • White-cheeked Pintail
    White-cheeked Pintail

    The White cheeked Pintail or Bahama Pintail is a dabbling duck of the Caribbean, South America and the Gal?pagos Islands.This species was first described by Carolus Linnaeus in his Systema naturae in 1758 under its current scientific name....
    , Anas bahamensis (formerly Poecilonetta)
  • Red-billed Teal
    Red-billed Teal

    The Red-billed Teal is a dabbling duck which is an abundant resident breeder in southern and eastern Africa typically south of 10? S. This duck is not bird migration, but will fly great distances to find suitable waters....
    , Anas erythrorhyncha (formerly Poecilonetta)
  • Cape Teal
    Cape Teal

    The Cape Teal, Anas capensis is a 44?46 cm long dabbling duck of open wetlands in sub-Saharan Africa.This species is essentially bird migration, although it moves opportunistically with the rains....
    , Anas capensis (formerly in Nettion)


Subgenus Nettion - teals (paraphyletic)
  • Indian Ocean clade
    • Bernier's Teal
      Bernier's Teal

      Bernier's Teal Anas bernieri is a duck species of the genus Anas. It is endemic to Madagascar, where it is found only along the west coast....
      , Anas bernieri
    • Mauritian Duck
      Mauritian Duck

      The Mauritian Duck or Sauzier's Teal is an extinct dabbling duck that formerly occurred on the islands of Mauritius and R?union. It was a small teal of the Sunda Teal superspecies of the Anas subgenus Nettion....
      , Anas theodori - extinct (late 1690s)
    • Sunda Teal
      Sunda Teal

      The Sunda Teal, Anas gibberifrons, also known as the Indonesian Teal, is a dabbling duck found in open wetlands in the Andaman Islands and Indonesia....
      , Anas gibberifrons
      • Rennell Island Teal, Anas gibberifrons remissa - extinct (c.1959)
    • Grey Teal
      Grey Teal

      The Grey Teal, Anas gracilis is a dabbling duck found in open wetlands in New Guinea, Australia, New Zealand, Vanuatu and Solomon Islands....
      , Anas gracilis - formerly included in Anas gibberifrons
    • Chestnut Teal
      Chestnut Teal

      The Chestnut Teal is a dabbling duck found in southern Australia.The male has a distinctive green coloured head and mottled brown body. The female has a brown head and mottled brown body....
      , Anas castanea


  • Atlantic/Red-and-green head clade
    • Common Teal
      Common Teal

      The 'Common Teal' or 'Eurasian Teal' is a common and widespread duck which breeds in temperate Eurasia and bird migration south in winter. It is the Old World counterpart of the North American Green-winged Teal , which was formerly considered a subspecies of A....
      , Anas crecca
    • Green-winged Teal
      Green-winged Teal

      The Green-winged Teal is a common and widespread duck which breeds in the northern areas of North America except on the Aleutian Islands. It was considered conspecific with the Common Teal for some time, and the issue is still being reviewed by the American Ornithologists' Union ; based on this the IUCN and BirdLife International do not ac...
      , Anas carolinensis - formerly included in Anas crecca
    • Speckled Teal
      Speckled Teal

      The Speckled Teal is a South American duck species. Like other teals, it belongs to the diverse genus Anas; more precisely it is one of the "true" teals of subgenus Nettion....
      , Anas flavirostris
      • Andean Teal, Anas (flavirostris) andinum


  • New Zealand clade (Placement unresolved)
    • Auckland Islands Teal
      Auckland Islands Teal

      The Auckland Islands Teal is a species of dabbling duck of the genus Anas that is endemic to Auckland Islands south of New Zealand. The species was once found throughout the Auckland Islands but is now restricted to the islands that lack introduced predators; Adams Island, New Zealand, Enderby Island, New Zealand, Disappointment Island...
      , Anas aucklandica
    • Brown Teal
      Brown Teal

      The Brown Teal or New Zealand Teal, is a species of dabbling duck of the genus Anas. The Maori language name for it is Pateke....
      , Anas chlorotis - formerly included in Anas aucklandica
    • Macquarie Islands Teal, Anas cf. chlorotis - prehistoric
      Late Quaternary prehistoric birds

      Prehistoric birds are various taxon of birds that became extinct before recorded history, or more precisely, before they could be studied alive by ornithologys....
    • Campbell Island Teal
      Campbell Island Teal

      The Campbell Island Teal is a small, flightless, nocturnal animal species of dabbling duck of the genus Anas endemic to the Campbell Island group of New Zealand....
      , Anas nesiotis - formerly included in Anas aucklandica


Subgenus Melananas - African Black Duck
  • African Black Duck
    African Black Duck

    The African Black Duck is a species of duck of the genus Anas. It is genetically closest to the mallard group , but shows some peculiarities in its behavior and plumage; it is accordingly placed in the subgenus Melananas pending further research....
    , Anas sparsa


Subgenus Anas - mallard and relatives (may include Melananas)
  • Basal African species ("Afranas")
    • Meller's Duck
      Meller's Duck

      Meller's Duck is a species of the dabbling duck genus Anas. It is endemism to eastern Madagascar. Although a population was established on Mauritius in the mid-18th century, this is on the verge of extinction due to habitat loss and competition by feral domestic ducks ....
      , Anas melleri
    • Yellow-billed Duck
      Yellow-billed Duck

      The Yellow-billed Duck, Anas undulata, is a 51-58 cm long dabbling duck which is an abundant resident breeder in southern and eastern Africa....
      , Anas undulata


  • American clade
    • Mottled Duck
      Mottled Duck

      The Mottled Duck or Mottled Mallard is a medium-sized dabbling duck. It is intermediate in appearance between the female Mallard and the American Black Duck....
      , Anas fulvigula - sometimes included in Anas platyrhynchos
      • Florida Duck, Anas fulvigula fulvigula - sometimes included in Anas platyrhynchos
    • American Black Duck
      American Black Duck

      The American Black Duck is a large dabbling duck.The adult male has a yellow beak, a dark body, lighter head and neck, orange legs and dark eyes....
      , Anas rubripes - sometimes included in Anas platyrhynchos
    • Mexican Duck
      Mexican Duck

      The Mexican Duck is a dabbling duck in the genus Anas which breeds in Mexico and the southern USA. Most of the population is resident, but some northern birds bird migration south to Mexico in winter....
      , Anas diazi - sometimes included in Anas platyrhynchos


  • Pacific clade - the moa-nalo
    Moa-nalo

    Moa-nalo are a group of extinct aberrant, goose-like ducks that formerly lived on the Hawaiian Islands in the Pacific. They were the major herbivores on most of these islands for the last 3 million years or so, until they became extinct after human settlement....
    s might be derived from this group.
    • Mariana Mallard
      Mariana Mallard

      The Mariana Mallard or Oustalet's Gray Duck is an extinct species of duck of the genus Anas that was endemism to the Mariana Islands. It is sometimes treated as a subspecies of the Mallard or the Pacific Black Duck, or the Spot-billed Duck ....
      , Anas (platyrhynchos) oustaleti - sometimes considered a subspecies of Anas superciliosa; extinct (1981)
    • Hawaiian Duck
      Hawaiian Duck

      The Hawaiian Duck is a species of the bird Anas. It is endemic to the large islands of Hawaii. Some authorities treat it as an island subspecies of the Mallard, based on their capacity to produce fertile Hybrid , but it appears well distinct and capability of hybridization is meaningless in dabbling duck taxonomy....
      , Anas wyvilliana - sometimes included in Anas platyrhynchos
    • Philippine Duck
      Philippine Duck

      The Philippine Duck is a large dabbling duck of the genus Anas. Fewer than 10,000 remain.It has a black crown, nape and eye stripe, with a cinnamon head and neck....
      , Anas luzonica
    • Laysan Duck
      Laysan Duck

      The Laysan Duck , also known as the Laysan Teal because of its small size, is an endangered dabbling duck endemic to the Hawaiian Archipelago....
      , Anas laysanensis - sometimes included in Anas platyrhynchos
      • Lisianski Duck, Anas cf. laysanensis - hypothetical; extinct (c.1845)
    • Pacific Black Duck
      Pacific Black Duck

      The Pacific Black Duck, Anas superciliosa is a dabbling duck found in much of Indonesia, 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....
      , Anas superciliosa


  • Ambiguous
    • Mallard
      Mallard

      The Mallard , probably the best-known and most recognizable of all ducks, is a dabbling duck which breeds throughout the temperate and sub-tropical areas of North America, Europe, Asia, New Zealand , and Australia....
      , Anas platyrhynchos
    • Spotbill
      Spotbill

      The Spotbill, Anas poecilorhyncha, also known as the Spot-billed Duck, is a dabbling duck which breeds in tropical and eastern Asia. It has three subspecies: A....
      , Anas poecilorhyncha
      • Chinese Spotbill, Anas (poecilorhyncha) zonorhyncha - sometimes considered a subspecies of Anas superciliosa


Formerly placed in Anas:
  • Bronze-winged Duck
    Bronze-winged Duck

    The Bronze-winged Duck , also known as the Spectacled Duck, is a dabbling duck and the sole member of its genus Speculanas. It is often placed in Anas with most other dabbling ducks, but its closest relative is either the Crested Duck or the Brazilian Duck, which likewise form monotypic genera....
    ,     Speculanas specularis
  • Crested Duck
    Crested Duck

    The Crested Duck is a species of duck native to South America, the only member of the monotypic genus Lophonetta. It is sometimes included in Anas, but it belongs to a South American clade that diverged early in dabbling duck evolution ....
    ,     Lophonetta specularioides
  • Salvadori's Teal
    Salvadori's Teal

    The Salvadori's Teal or Salvadori's Duck is a species of bird native to New Guinea. It is placed in the monotypic genus Salvadorina....
    ,     Salvadorina waigiuensis


Fossil record

A number of fossil
Fossil

Fossils are the preserved remains or trace fossil of animals, plants, and other organisms from the remote past. The totality of fossils, both discovered and undiscovered, and their placement in fossiliferous Rock formations and sedimentary rock layers is known as the fossil record....
 species of Anas have been described. Their relationships are often undetermined:
  • Anas sp. (Late Miocene of China)
  • Anas sp. (Late Miocene of Rudabánya, Hungary)
  • Anas greeni (Ash Hollow Late Miocene?/Early Pliocene of South Dakota, USA) - Nettion red-and-green head clade (doubtful)?
  • Anas ogallalae (Ogalalla Late Miocene?/Early Pliocene of Kansas, USA) - Nettion red-and-green head clade (doubtful)?
  • Anas pullulans (Juntura Late Miocene?/Early Pliocene of Juntura
    Juntura, Oregon

    Juntura is an unincorporated area in Malheur County, Oregon, Oregon, United States on U.S. Route 20 . The word juntura is Spanish language for "juncture", and the community was named for its proximity to the confluence of the Malheur River with its North Fork Malheur River....
    , Malheur County
    Malheur County, Oregon

    Malheur County is a List of counties in Oregon located in the southeast corner of the U.S. state of Oregon. The Oregon Geographic Names for Malheur River, which flows through it....
    , Oregon
    Oregon

    Oregon is a U.S. state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. The area was inhabited by many indigenous tribes before the arrival of traders, explorers and settlers....
    , USA) -     Punanetta?
  • Anas cheuen (Early-Middle Pleistocene of Argentina) - Dafila?
  • Anas bunkeri (Early -? Middle Pliocene - Early Pleistocene of WC USA) - Nettion red-and-green head clade?
  • Bermuda Islands Flightless Duck Anas pachyscelus (Shore Hills Late Pleistocene of Bermuda, W Atlantic)
  • Anas schneideri (Late Pleistocene of Little Box Elder Cave, USA)


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 "Warnsdorf", Czechia) is apparently an indeterminate heron
    Heron

    The herons are wading birds in the Ardeidae family. Some are called egrets or bitterns instead of herons.Within the family, all members of the genera Botaurus and Ixobrychus are referred to as bitterns, and - including the Zigzag Heron or Zigzag Bittern - are a monophyletic group within the Ardeidae....
    .
  • "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 "Skalitz", Czechia), though possibly anseriform, cannot be placed with any certainty among modern birds at all.
  • "Anas" albae (Late Miocene of Polgárdi, Hungary), "A." eppelsheimensis (Early Pliocene of Eppelsheim, Germany), "A." isarensis (Late Miocene of Aumeister, Germany) and "A." luederitzensis (Kalahari Early Miocene of Lüderitzbucht, Namibia) are apparently Anatidae
    Anatidae

    Anatidae is the biological family that includes the ducks, goose and swans. The family has a cosmopolitan distribution, occurring on all the world's continents except Antarctica and on most of the world's islands and island groups....
     of unclear affiliations; the first might be a seaduck.
  • "Anas" integra and "A." oligocaena are now in Dendrochen
  • "Anas" robusta is now tentatively placed in Anserobranta
  • "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 into the present genus either; they may still turn out to be ancestral dabbling ducks.


Highly problematic, albeit in a theoretical sense, is the placement of the moa-nalo
Moa-nalo

Moa-nalo are a group of extinct aberrant, goose-like ducks that formerly lived on the Hawaiian Islands in the Pacific. They were the major herbivores on most of these islands for the last 3 million years or so, until they became extinct after human settlement....
s. These are in all probability derived from a common ancestor of the Pacific Black Duck
Pacific Black Duck

The Pacific Black Duck, Anas superciliosa is a dabbling duck found in much of Indonesia, 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....
, the Laysan Duck
Laysan Duck

The Laysan Duck , also known as the Laysan Teal because of its small size, is an endangered dabbling duck endemic to the Hawaiian Archipelago....
, and the Mallard
Mallard

The Mallard , probably the best-known and most recognizable of all ducks, is a dabbling duck which breeds throughout the temperate and sub-tropical areas of North America, Europe, Asia, New Zealand , and Australia....
, and an unknown amount of other lineages. Phylogenetically, they may even form a clade
Clade

A clade is a term used in modern alpha taxonomy, the scientific classification of living and fossil organisms, to describe a monophyletic group, defined as a group consisting of a single common ancestor and all its descendants.The term "monophyletic group" is used in this article in the conventional sense of "an a...
 within the traditional genus Anas. However, as opposed to these species - which are well representative of dabbling ducks in general - the moa-nalos are the most radical departure from the anseriform bauplan known to science. This illustrates that in a truly evolutionary sense, a strictly phylogenetic taxonomy may be difficult to apply.

Footnotes