Steamer duck
Steamer ducks | |
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Falkland steamer duck, Tachyeres brachypterus | |
Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Aves |
Order: | Anseriformes |
Family: | Anatidae |
Subfamily: | Tadorninae |
Genus: | Tachyeres Owen, 1875 |
Species | |
Tachyeres patachonicus | |
Synonyms | |
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The steamer ducks are a genus (Tachyeres) of ducks in the family Anatidae. All of the four species occur at the southern cone of South America in Chile and Argentina, and all except the flying steamer duck are flightless; even this one species capable of flight rarely takes to the air.[2] The genus name Tachyeres, "having fast oars" or "fast rower", comes from Ancient Greek ταχυ- "fast" + ἐρέσσω "I row (as with oars)".[3] The common name "steamer ducks" arose because, when swimming fast, they flap their wings into the water as well as using their feet, creating an effect like a paddle steamer.[4] They can be aggressive and are capable of chasing off predators like petrels. Bloody battles of steamer ducks with each other over territory disputes are observed in nature. They even kill waterbirds that are several times their size.[5]
Taxonomy
They are usually placed in the shelduck subfamily Tadorninae. However, mtDNA sequence analyses of the cytochrome b and NADH dehydrogenase subunit 2 genes indicate that Tachyeres rather belongs in a distinct clade of aberrant South American dabbling ducks, which also includes the Brazilian, the crested, and the bronze-winged ducks.[6]
Extant species
There are four species:[2]
Image | Scientific name | Common Name | Distribution |
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Tachyeres patachonicus | Flying steamer duck | southern Chile and Argentina, Tierra del Fuego and the Falkland Islands. | |
Tachyeres pteneres | Fuegian steamer duck | southern Chile and Chiloé to Tierra del Fuego | |
Tachyeres leucocephalus | Chubut steamer duck | Argentina | |
Tachyeres brachypterus | Falkland steamer duck | the Falkland Islands in the southern Atlantic Ocean. | |
The Chubut steamer duck was only described in 1981.[2]
Phylogeny
Based on the Taxonomy in Flux from John Boyd's website.[7]
Tachyeres |
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References
- ↑ "Part 7- Vertebrates". Collection of genus-group names in a systematic arrangement. Retrieved 30 June 2016.
- 1 2 3 Livezey, Bradley C.; Humphrey, Philip Strong (1992). Taxonomy and Identification of Steamer-Ducks (Anatidae: Tachyeres). Monograph of the Museum of Natural History, the University of Kansas. No. 8. Lawrence, Kansas: Museum of Natural History, University of Kansas. ISBN 0893380423.
- ↑ Kear, J., ed. (2005). Ducks, Geese and Swans. I. Oxford University Press. p. 378. ISBN 0198610084.
- ↑ Moynihan, M. (April 1958). "Notes on the Behavior of the Flying Steamer Duck" (PDF). The Auk. 75 (2): 183–202. JSTOR 4081889.
- ↑ "8 Birds That Can't Fly".
- ↑ Johnson, Kevin P.; Sorenson, Michael D. (1999). "Phylogeny and biogeography of dabbling ducks (genus Anas): a comparison of molecular and morphological evidence" (PDF). Auk. 116 (3): 792–805. doi:10.2307/4089339.
- ↑ Boyd, John (2007). "Anatini" (PDF). Taxonomy in Flux. Retrieved 30 August 2016.
External links
Wikisource has the text of the 1905 New International Encyclopedia article Steamer Duck. |
Media related to Tachyeres at Wikimedia Commons - Cunningham, Robert O. (November 1871). "On some Points in the Anatomy of the Steamer Duck (Micropterus cinereus)". Transactions of the Zoological Society of London. 7: 493–501; plates lviii–lxii