The pygmy geese are a group of very small "perching ducks" in the genus Nettapus which breed in the Old World tropics. They are the smallest of all wildfowl. As the "perching ducks" are a paraphyletic group,[2] they need to be placed elsewhere. The initially assumed relationship with the dabbling duck subfamily Anatinae[citation needed] has been questioned, and it appears they form a lineage in an ancient Gondwanan radiation of waterfowl, within which they are of unclear affinities.[3] An undescribed fossil species from the late Hemphillian (5.0–4.1 mya) of Jalisco, central Mexico, has also been identified from the distal end of a tarsometatarsus. It is only record of the genus in the New World.[4]
The genus Nettapus was erected by the German naturalist Johann Friedrich von Brandt in 1836.[5] The name is from Ancient Greek nētta meaning "duck" and pous meaning "foot". It was thought that the type species, the African pygmy goose (Nettapus auritus), possessed the feet and body of a duck and the neck of a goose.[6]
There are three extant species in the genus:[7]
Image
Scientific name
Common Name
Distribution
Nettapus auritus
African pygmy goose
Sub-Saharan Africa
Nettapus coromandelianus
Cotton pygmy goose
northern Australasia and Southeast Asia
Nettapus pulchellus
Green pygmy goose
northern Australia and southern New Guinea
Pygmy geese have short bills, rounded heads and short legs. They nest in tree holes.
^"Anatidae". aviansystematics.org. The Trust for Avian Systematics. Retrieved 2023-08-05.
^Livezey, Bradley C. (1986). "A phylogenetic analysis of recent anseriform genera using morphological characters" (Full text). Auk. 103 (4): 737–754.
^Sraml, M.; Christidis, L.; Easteal, S.; Horn, P.; Collet, C. (1996). "Molecular Relationships Within Australasian Waterfowl (Anseriformes)". Australian Journal of Zoology. 44 (1): 47–58. doi:10.1071/ZO9960047.
^Steadman, D.; Carranza-Castaneda, O. (2006). "Early Pliocene to early Pleistocene birds from central Mexico". Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Instituto de Geología and Centro de Geociencias, Publicacion Especial. 4: 61–71. ISBN 970-32-3895-5.
^Brandt, Johann Friedrich von (1836). Descriptiones et icones animalium rossicorum novorum vel minus rite cognitorum (in Latin). Vol. Fasciculus 1: Aves. Jussu et sumptibus Academiae Scientiarum. p. 5.
^Jobling, James A. (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London: Christopher Helm. p. 269. ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4.
^Gill, Frank; Donsker, David, eds. (2017). "Screamers, ducks, geese & swans". World Bird List Version 7.3. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 7 November 2017.
African pygmygoose (Nettapus auritus), possessed the feet and body of a duck and the neck of a goose. There are three extant species in the genus: Pygmy geese...
The cotton pygmygoose or cotton teal (Nettapus coromandelianus) is a small perching duck which breeds in Asia, Southeast Asia extending south and east...
The African pygmygoose (Nettapus auritus) is a perching duck from sub-Saharan Africa. It is the smallest of Africa's waterfowl, and one of the smallest...
The green pygmygoose (Nettapus pulchellus) is a small perching duck which breeds in southern New Guinea and northern Australia. First described in 1842...
Anatinae or a very distinct clade? Green pygmygoose Nettapus pulchellus: Anatinae or a Gondwanan clade? Cotton pygmygoose Nettapus coromandellanus: Anatinae...
observed as a breeding area of the black-crowned night heron, the cotton pygmygoose, purple swamphen, and pheasant-tailed jacana. Keenjhar Lake is a popular...
named "pygmy geese"; they seem to represent another ancient lineage, with possible affinities to the Cape Barren goose or the spur-winged goose. The maned...
well known species (some are pictured in the gallery) are the cotton pygmygoose (Nettapus coromandelianus), tufted duck (Aythya fuligula), yellow-crowned...
this in being rounder. Extant species range in size from the cotton pygmygoose, at as little as 26.5 cm (10.5 in) and 164 g (5.8 oz), to the trumpeter...
waterfowl can be seen including several species of heron and egret, African pygmygoose, comb-crested jacana, black-winged stilt, Egyptian plover, and black...
house sparrow, Indian chat, Indian courser, Indian pond heron, cotton pygmygoose, large cuckooshrike, laughing dove, lesser whistling duck, little cormorant...
Zelenkov and Evgenii Nikolaievich Kurochkin in 2012. African pygmygoose Cotton pygmygoose Smallest organisms Mayr, G. (2016). Avian Evolution: The Fossil...
each day. Its nest is 3 cm (1.2 in) across. The smallest waterfowl is pygmygoose (Nettapus). African species reaches the average weight of about 285 grams...
& Baral, H. S. (2012). "Survey of Ghodaghodi Lake Complex for Cotton PygmyGoose Nettapus coromandelianus and Marsh Mugger Crocodylus palustris". Our...
of the Himalayas and many other local migratory birds such as cotton pygmygoose and knob-billed duck are spotted here during this season. However, the...
present in the sanctuary, including large flocks of common teal, cotton pygmygoose and ruddy shelduck. A large number of cranes and barheaded geese can...
recorded [1 extant native] The family contains a single species, the magpie goose. It was an early and distinctive offshoot of the anseriform family tree...
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