Melanitta

Life-forms

Superregnum: Eukaryota
Regnum: Animalia
Subregnum: Eumetazoa
Cladus: Bilateria
Cladus: Nephrozoa
Superphylum: Deuterostomia
Phylum: Chordata
Cladus: Craniata
Subphylum: Vertebrata
Infraphylum: Gnathostomata
Superclassis: Tetrapoda
Cladus: Reptiliomorpha
Cladus: Amniota
Classis: Reptilia
Cladus: Eureptilia
Cladus: Romeriida
Subclassis: Diapsida
Cladus: Sauria
Infraclassis: Archosauromorpha
Cladus: Crurotarsi
Divisio: Archosauria
Subsectio: Ornithodira
Subtaxon: Dinosauromorpha
Cladus: Dinosauria
Ordo: Saurischia
Cladus: Theropoda
Cladus: Neotheropoda
Infraclassis: Aves
Cladus: Euavialae
Cladus: Avebrevicauda
Cladus: Pygostylia
Cladus: Ornithothoraces
Cladus: Euornithes
Cladus: Ornithuromorpha
Cladus: Ornithurae
Cladus: Carinatae
Parvclassis: Neornithes
Cohors: Neognathae
Cladus: Galloanseres
Ordo: Anseriformes

Familia: Anatidae
Subfamilia: Merginae
Genus: Melanitta
Species: M. americana – M. deglandi – M. fusca - M. nigra - M. perspicillata – M. stejnegeri

Name

Melanitta F. Boie, 1822

Typus: Anas fusca Linnaeus, 1758, seas of NW Europe, = Melanitta fusca

Synonyms

Oidemia Fleming, 1822 Philosophy of zoology p. 260 BHL
Oedemia (emend.) Brehm, 1855
Oedemia (emend.) Sundevall, 1873 Meth.Av.Tentam. p. 149 BHL

References

Tagebuch gehalten auf einer Reise durch Norwegen im Jahre 1817 308, 351.

Vernacular names
беларуская: Турпаны
English: Scoters
français: Macreuses
Türkçe: Kara ördek
中文: 海番鸭属

The scoters are stocky seaducks in the genus Melanitta. The drakes are mostly black and have swollen bills, the females are brown. They breed in the far north of Europe, Asia, and North America, and winter farther south in temperate zones of those continents. They form large flocks on suitable coastal waters. These are tightly packed, and the birds tend to take off together. Their lined nests are built on the ground close to the sea, lakes or rivers, in woodland or tundra. These species dive for crustaceans and molluscs.
Taxonomy

The genus Melanitta was introduced by the German zoologist Friedrich Boie in 1822.[1] The type species was designated in 1838 as the velvet scoter by Thomas Campbell Eyton.[2] The genus name combines the Ancient Greek melas meaning "black" and netta meaning "duck".[3]

The genus contains six species:[4]

Image	Scientific name	Common Name	Distribution
	Melanitta americana	black or American scoter	north of North America in Labrador and Newfoundland to the southeast Hudson Bay
	Melanitta nigra	common scoter	north of Europe and Asia east to the Olenyok River
	Melanitta fusca	velvet scoter	eastern Turkey, Europe as far south as Great Britain, and on the Black and Caspian Sea.
	Melanitta deglandi	white-winged scoter	North America.
	Melanitta stejnegeri	Stejneger's scoter	far north of Asia east of the Yenisey Basin.
	Melanitta perspicillata	surf scoter	North America, mostly in Northern Canada and Alaska

The presumed fossil "scoter" Melanitta ceruttii, which lived in California during the Late Pliocene, is now placed in the genus Histrionicus.
References

Boie, Friedrich (1822). Tagebuch gehalten auf einer Reise durch Norwegen im Jahre 1817 (in German). Schleswig: Königl Taubstummen - Institut. pp. 308, 351.
Eyton, Thomas Campbell (1838). A Monograph on the Anatidae, or Duck Tribe. London: Longman, Orme, Brown, Green, & Longman. p. 52.
Jobling, James A (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London: Christopher Helm. p. 246. ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4.
Gill, Frank; Donsker, David; Rasmussen, Pamela, eds. (July 2021). "Screamers, ducks, geese & swans". IOC World Bird List Version 11.2. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 16 October 2021.

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