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Anseriformes

 
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Anseriformes
 
 
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The order Anseriformes contains about 150 living species
Species

In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring....
 of bird
Bird

Birds are wing, Bipedalismal, endothermic , vertebrate animals that lay egg . There are around 10,000 living species, making them the most numerous tetrapod vertebrates....
s in three extant families: the Anhimidae (the screamers), Anseranatidae (the Magpie-goose
Magpie-goose

The Magpie-goose, Anseranas semipalmata, is a waterbird species found in coastal northern Australia and savannah in southern New Guinea. It is a unique member of the order Anseriformes, and arranged in a Family and genus distinct from all other living waterfowl....
), and the 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....
, which includes over 140 species of waterfowl
Waterfowl

Waterfowl are certain wildfowl of the order Anseriformes, especially members of the family Anatidae, which includes ducks, goose, and swans.They are strong swimmers with medium to large bodies....
, among them the duck
Duck

Duck is the common name for a number of species in the Anatidae family of birds. The ducks are divided between several subfamilies listed in full in the Anatidae article; they do not represent a clade but a form taxon, being the Anatidae not considered swans and goose....
s, geese
Goose

Goose is the English-language name for a considerable number of birds, belonging to the family Anatidae. This family also includes swans, most of which are larger than geese, and ducks, which are smaller....
, and swan
Swan

Swans are birds of the family Anatidae, which also includes goose and ducks. Swans are grouped with the closely related geese in the subfamily Anserinae where they form the tribe Cygnini....
s.

All species in the order are highly adapted for an aquatic existence at the water surface. All are web-footed for efficient swimming (although some have subsequently become mainly terrestrial).

earliest known Anseriform is the recently discovered Vegavis
Vegavis

Vegavis is a genus of extinct bird that lived during the Late Cretaceous of Antarctica, some 65 mya . It belonged to the clade Anseriformes....
, which lived during the Cretaceous
Cretaceous

The Cretaceous , usually abbreviated K for its German translation Kreide, is a geologic period from circa to million years ago . In the geologic timescale, the Cretaceous follows on the Jurassic period and is followed by the Paleogene period....
 period.






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The order Anseriformes contains about 150 living species
Species

In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring....
 of bird
Bird

Birds are wing, Bipedalismal, endothermic , vertebrate animals that lay egg . There are around 10,000 living species, making them the most numerous tetrapod vertebrates....
s in three extant families: the Anhimidae (the screamers), Anseranatidae (the Magpie-goose
Magpie-goose

The Magpie-goose, Anseranas semipalmata, is a waterbird species found in coastal northern Australia and savannah in southern New Guinea. It is a unique member of the order Anseriformes, and arranged in a Family and genus distinct from all other living waterfowl....
), and the 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....
, which includes over 140 species of waterfowl
Waterfowl

Waterfowl are certain wildfowl of the order Anseriformes, especially members of the family Anatidae, which includes ducks, goose, and swans.They are strong swimmers with medium to large bodies....
, among them the duck
Duck

Duck is the common name for a number of species in the Anatidae family of birds. The ducks are divided between several subfamilies listed in full in the Anatidae article; they do not represent a clade but a form taxon, being the Anatidae not considered swans and goose....
s, geese
Goose

Goose is the English-language name for a considerable number of birds, belonging to the family Anatidae. This family also includes swans, most of which are larger than geese, and ducks, which are smaller....
, and swan
Swan

Swans are birds of the family Anatidae, which also includes goose and ducks. Swans are grouped with the closely related geese in the subfamily Anserinae where they form the tribe Cygnini....
s.

All species in the order are highly adapted for an aquatic existence at the water surface. All are web-footed for efficient swimming (although some have subsequently become mainly terrestrial).

Evolution

The earliest known Anseriform is the recently discovered Vegavis
Vegavis

Vegavis is a genus of extinct bird that lived during the Late Cretaceous of Antarctica, some 65 mya . It belonged to the clade Anseriformes....
, which lived during the Cretaceous
Cretaceous

The Cretaceous , usually abbreviated K for its German translation Kreide, is a geologic period from circa to million years ago . In the geologic timescale, the Cretaceous follows on the Jurassic period and is followed by the Paleogene period....
 period. It is thought that the Anseriformes originated when the original Galloanserae (the group to which Anseriformes and Galliformes
Galliformes

Galliformes are an order of birds containing turkey , grouse, chickens, quails, and pheasants. More than 250 living species are found worldwide....
 belong) split into the two main lineages. The extinct dromornithids represent early offshoots of the anseriform line, possibly derived from screamer
Screamer

The screamers are a small family of birds, the Anhimidae. For a long time they were thought to be related to the Galliformes because of similar beak, but they are truly related to ducks , most closely to the Magpie-goose ....
-like ancestors, and so maybe Gastornis
Gastornis

Gastornis , formely Diatryma, is an extinct genus of large flightless bird that lived during the late Paleocene and Eocene periods of the Cenozoic....
 (if it is an Anseriform). The ancestors of the Anseriformes developed the characteristic bill structure that they still share. The combination of the internal shape of the bill and a modified tongue acts as a suction pump to draw water in at the tip of the bill and expel it from the sides and rear; an array of fine filter plates called lamellae traps small particles, which are then licked off and swallowed.

All Anseriformes have this basic structure, but many have subsequently adopted alternative feeding strategies: geese
Goose

Goose is the English-language name for a considerable number of birds, belonging to the family Anatidae. This family also includes swans, most of which are larger than geese, and ducks, which are smaller....
 graze on plants, the saw-billed ducks
Merginae

The seaducks, Merginae, form a subfamily of the duck, goose and swan family of birds, Anatidae.As the name implies, most but not all, are essentially marine outside the breeding season....
 catch fish; even the screamer
Screamer

The screamers are a small family of birds, the Anhimidae. For a long time they were thought to be related to the Galliformes because of similar beak, but they are truly related to ducks , most closely to the Magpie-goose ....
s, which have bills that seem on first sight more like those of the game birds, still have vestigal lamellae. The prehistoric wading presbyornithids and the huge and possibly carnivorous dromornithids were even more bizarre.

Systematics

The Anseriformes and the Galliformes
Galliformes

Galliformes are an order of birds containing turkey , grouse, chickens, quails, and pheasants. More than 250 living species are found worldwide....
 (pheasants etc) are the most primitive neognathous birds, and should follow ratite
Ratite

A ratite is any of a diverse group of large, flightless birds of Gondwanan origin, most of them now extinct. Unlike other flightless birds, the ratites have no keel on their sternum - hence their name which comes from the Latin for raft....
s and tinamou
Tinamou

The tinamous are one of the most ancient living groups of bird, members of a South American family....
s in bird classification systems.

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....
 systematics, especially regarding placement of some "odd" genera in the dabbling ducks or shelducks, is not fully resolved. See the Anatidae article for more information, and for alternate taxonomic approaches.

ORDER ANSERIFORMES
Magpie
* Family Anhimidae: screamers
  • Family Anseranatidae: the Magpie-goose
  • Family 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....
    • Subfamily Dendrocygninae
      Dendrocygninae

      Dendrocygninae is a subfamily of the duck, goose and swan family of birds, Anatidae. In other taxonomy approaches, they are either considered a separate family Dendrocygnidae, or a tribe Dendrocygnini in the goose subfamily Anserinae ....
      : Whistling ducks (sometimes given full family status as the Dendrocygnidae).
    • Subfamily Thalassorninae: the White-backed Duck.
    • Subfamily Anserinae
      Anserinae

      The Anserinae is a subfamily in the waterfowl family Anatidae. It includes the swans and true Goose. Under alternative systematics concepts , it is split into two subfamilies, the Anserinae containing the geese , while the Cygninae contain the swans....
      : Swans and geese.
    • Subfamily Stictonettinae: the Freckled Duck.
    • Subfamily Plectropterinae: the Spur-winged Goose.
    • Subfamily Tadorninae
      Tadorninae

      The Tadorninae is the shelduck-sheldgoose subfamily of the Anatidae, the biological family that includes the ducks and most duck-like waterfowl such as the goose and swans....
      : Shelducks and sheldgeese - probably paraphyletic
    • Subfamily Anatinae
      Anatinae

      The Anatinae is a subfamily of the family Anatidae . Its surviving members are the dabbling ducks, which feed mainly at the surface rather than by diving....
      : Dabbling ducks and moa-nalos
    • Subfamily Aythyinae: Diving ducks (sometimes included in Anatinae)
    • Subfamily Merginae
      Merginae

      The seaducks, Merginae, form a subfamily of the duck, goose and swan family of birds, Anatidae.As the name implies, most but not all, are essentially marine outside the breeding season....
      : eiders, scoters, mergansers and other sea-ducks.
    • Subfamily Oxyurinae
      Oxyurinae

      Oxyurinae is a subfamily of the duck, goose and swan family of birds, Anatidae. It has been subject of considerable debate about its validity and circumscription....
      : Stiff-tailed ducks and allies.
  • Family Dromornithidae
    Dromornithidae

    Dromornithidae ? the dromornithids ? were a scientific classification of large, flightless Australian birds of the Pleistocene Epoch. All are now extinction....
     (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....
    ): mihirungs
  • Family Presbyornithidae
    Presbyornithidae

    Presbyornithidae were a family of waterbirds with an apparently global distribution that lived until the Earliest Oligocene, but are now extinct....
     (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....
    ): several genera of wading-"geese"


The fossil Gastornithidae (diatrymas) are also occasionally included herein as a family.

Some fossil anseriform taxa not assignable with certainty to a family are:
  • Anatalavis
    Anatalavis

    Antalavis is genus of prehistoric birds related to ducks and geese, perhaps in particular the Magpie-goose. The species Anatalavis rex - formerly placed in Telmatornis - is known from the Hornerstown Formation of New Jersey....
     (Late Cretaceous/Early Paleocene - Early Eocene) - Anseranatidae or basal
    Basal (phylogenetics)

    In phylogenetics, a basal clade is the earliest clade to branch in a larger clade; it appears at the base of a cladogram.A basal group form an outgroup to the rest of the clade, such as in the following example:...
    . Includes "Telmatornis" rex.
  • Proherodius (London Clay Early Eocene of London, England) - Presbyornithidae?
  • Romainvillia (Late Eocene/Early Oligocene) - Anseranatidae or Anatidae
  • Paranyroca (Rosebud Early Miocene of Bennett County, USA) - Anatidae or own family?


In addition, a considerable number of mainly Late Cretaceous and Paleogene
Paleogene

The Paleogene is a geologic period that began 65.5 ? 0.3 and ended 23.03 ? 0.05 million years ago and comprises the first part of the Cenozoic era....
 fossils have been described where it is uncertain whether or not they are anseriforms. This is because almost all orders of aquatic birds living today either originated or underwent a major radiation
Adaptive radiation

An adaptive radiation is a rapid evolutionary radiation characterized by an increase in the morphological and ecological diversity of a single, rapidly diversifying lineage....
 during that time, making it hard to decide whether some waterbird-like bone belongs into this family or is the product of parallel evolution in a different lineage due to adaptive pressures.

  • Apatornis
    Apatornis

    Apatornis is a prehistoric bird genus from the Late Cretaceous. It lived around the Santonian-Campanian bampanian boundary, some 84-83 million years ago....
     (Smoky Hill Chalk
    Smoky Hill Chalk

    The Smoky Hill Chalk Member of the Niobrara Chalk Formation is a Cretaceous conservation Lagerst?tte, or fossil rich geological formation, known primarily for its exceptionally well-preserved marine reptiles....
     Late Cretaceous of Twin Butte Creek, USA)
  • Vegavis
    Vegavis

    Vegavis is a genus of extinct bird that lived during the Late Cretaceous of Antarctica, some 65 mya . It belonged to the clade Anseriformes....
     (Late Cretaceous) - closer to Presbyornithidae and Anatidae than to Anseranatidae
  • "Presbyornithidae" gen. et sp. indet. (Barun Goyot Late Cretaceous of Udan Sayr, Mongolia) - Presbyornithidae?
  • UCMP 117599 (Hell Creek Late Cretaceous of Bug Creek West, USA)
  • Petropluvialis (Late Eocene of England) - may be same as Palaeopapia
  • Agnopterus (Late Eocene - Late Oligocene of Europe) - includes Cygnopterus lambrechti
  • "Headonornis hantoniensis" BMNH PAL 4989 (Hampstead Early Oligocene of Isle of Wight, England) - formerly "Ptenornis"
  • Palaeopapia (Hampstead Early Oligocene of Isle of Wight, England)
  • "Anas" creccoides (Early/Middle Oligocene of Belgium)
  • "Anas" skalicensis (Early Miocene of "Skalitz", Czechia)
  • "Anas" risgoviensis (Late Miocene of Bavaria, Germany)


Footnotes