Shelduck

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Shelduck

The Shelducks, genus Tadorna, are a group of large birds in the 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....
subfamily of 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....
, the biological family

Family (biology)

In biological classification, family is a taxonomic rank. Exact details of formal nomenclature depend on the Nomenclature Codes which applies....
that includes 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 and most duck-like waterfowl such as the 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.

The shelducks are a group of larger often semi-terrestrial waterfowl, which can be seen as intermediate between geese (Anserinae) and ducks. They are mid-sized (some 50-60 cm) Old World

Old World

The Old World consists of those parts of Earth known to Europeans, Asians, and Africans in the 15th century....
waterfowl.

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Encyclopedia

The Shelducks, genus Tadorna, are a group of large birds in the Tadorninae

Tadorninae

Anatidae

Family (biology)

In biological classification, family is a taxonomic rank. Exact details of formal nomenclature depend on the Nomenclature Codes which applies....
that includes the duck

Duck

Goose

Swan

Old World

The Old World consists of those parts of Earth known to Europeans, Asians, and Africans in the 15th century....
waterfowl. The sexes are colored slightly different in most species, and all have a characteristic upperwing coloration in flight: the tertiary remiges form a green speculum, the secondaries and primaries are black, and the coverts (forewing) are white. Their diet consists of small shore animals (winkles, crab

Crab

Crabs are Decapoda crustaceans of the infraorder Brachyura, which typically have a very short projecting "tail" , or where the reduced abdomen is entirely hidden under the thorax....
s etc) as well as grass

Grass

Grass is the common word that generally describes monocotyledonous green plants. The family Poaceae are the "true grasses" and include most plants grown as grains, for pasture, and for lawns ....
es and other plants.

They were originally known as "sheldrakes", this remained the most common name until the late 19th century. The word is still sometimes used to refer to a male shelduck and can also occasionally refer to the Canvasback

Canvasback

The Canvasback , historically known in the United States as a "Sheldrake", is a large diving duck, 48-60 cm long and weighing 1270 g.The adult male has a black bill, a red head and neck, a black breast, red eyes and a whitish body....
(Aythya valisineria) of North America.

Systematics

The genus name Tadorna comes from Celtic roots and means "pied waterfowl", essentially the same as the English

English language

English is a West Germanic language that originated in Anglo-Saxon England and has lingua franca status in many parts of the world as a result of the military, economic, scientific, political and cultural influence of the British Empire in the 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries and that of the United States from the mid 20th century onwa...
"shelduck".

The namesake genus of the Tadorninae, Tadorna is very close to the Egyptian Goose

Egyptian Goose

The Egyptian Goose is a member of the duck, goose and swan family Anatidae. It is in the shelduck subfamily Tadorninae, and is the only extant member of the genus Alopochen....
and its extinct relatives from the Madagascar

Madagascar

Madagascar, or Republic of Madagascar , is an island nation in the Indian Ocean off the southeastern coast of Africa. The main island, also called Madagascar, is the List of islands by area, and is home to 5% of the world's plant and animal species, of which more than 80% are Endemism to Madagascar....
region, Alopochen. While the classical shelducks form a group that is obviously monophyletic, the interrelationships of these, the aberrant Common and especially Radjah Shelducks, and the Egyptian Goose were found to be poorly resolved by 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....
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; this genus may thus be paraphyletic.

Ruddy Shelduck
Ruddy Shelduck

The Ruddy Shelduck, Tadorna ferruginea, is a member of the duck, goose and swan family Anatidae. It is in the shelduck subfamily Tadorninae....
Tadorna ferruginea
Cape Shelduck
Cape Shelduck

The Cape Shelduck or South African Shelduck, Tadorna cana, is a species of shelduck, a group of large goose-like birds which are part of the bird family Anatidae, which also includes the swans, goose and ducks....
Tadorna cana
Australian Shelduck
Australian Shelduck

The Australian Shelduck, Tadorna tadornoides, is a shelduck, a group of large goose-like birds which are part of the bird family Anatidae, which also includes the swans, goose and ducks....
Tadorna tadornoides
Paradise Shelduck
Paradise Shelduck

The Paradise Shelduck, Tadorna variegata, is a large goose-like duck Endemic to New Zealand. They are known to the Maori as Putangitangi but now commonly referred to as the "Paradise duck", and are prized game birds....
Tadorna variegata
Crested Shelduck
Crested Shelduck

The Crested Shelduck or Korean Crested Shelduck, Tadorna cristata, is a species of bird in the Anatidae family. It is Critically endangered species and believed by some to be extinction....
Tadorna cristata - possibly extinct (late 20th century?)
Common Shelduck
Common Shelduck

The Common Shelduck is a widespread and common duck of the Genus shelduck. Fossil bones from Dorkovo described as Balcanas pliocaenica may actually belong to this species....
Tadorna tadorna
Radjah Shelduck
Radjah Shelduck

The Radjah Shelduck, Tadorna radjah, is a species of shelduck. Placed in the genus Tadorna, it differs markedly in external morphology , and mtDNA cytochrome b DNA sequence data suggests its status should be reinvestigated....
Tadorna radjah

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....
bones from Dorkovo (Bulgaria

Bulgaria

The state of Bulgaria , Scientific transliteration Balgarija, officially the Republic of Bulgaria has played a significant role in the Balkans in south-eastern Europe for over fourteen centuries....
) described as Balcanas pliocaenica may actually belong to this genus. They have even been proposed to be referable to the Common Shelduck, but their Early Pliocene age makes this rather unlikely.