Nettapus auritus (*)
Superregnum: Eukaryota
Cladus: Unikonta
Cladus: Opisthokonta
Cladus: Holozoa
Regnum: Animalia
Subregnum: Eumetazoa
Cladus: Bilateria
Cladus: Nephrozoa
Superphylum: Deuterostomia
Phylum: Chordata
Subphylum: Vertebrata
Infraphylum: Gnathostomata
Megaclassis: Osteichthyes
Cladus: Sarcopterygii
Cladus: Rhipidistia
Cladus: Tetrapodomorpha
Cladus: Eotetrapodiformes
Cladus: Elpistostegalia
Superclassis: Tetrapoda
Cladus: Reptiliomorpha
Cladus: Amniota
Classis: Reptilia
Cladus: Eureptilia
Cladus: Romeriida
Subclassis: Diapsida
Cladus: Sauria
Infraclassis: Archosauromorpha
Cladus: Crurotarsi
Divisio: Archosauria
Cladus: Avemetatarsalia
Cladus: Ornithodira
Subtaxon: Dinosauromorpha
Cladus: Dinosauriformes
Cladus: Dracohors
Cladus: Dinosauria
Cladus: Saurischia
Cladus: Eusaurischia
Subordo: Theropoda
Cladus: Neotheropoda
Cladus: Averostra
Cladus: Tetanurae
Cladus: Avetheropoda
Cladus: Coelurosauria
Cladus: Tyrannoraptora
Cladus: Maniraptoromorpha
Cladus: Maniraptoriformes
Cladus: Maniraptora
Cladus: Pennaraptora
Cladus: Paraves
Cladus: Eumaniraptora
Cladus: Avialae
Infraclassis: Aves
Cladus: Avebrevicauda
Cladus: Pygostylia
Cladus: Ornithothoraces
Cladus: Ornithuromorpha
Cladus: Carinatae
Parvclassis: Neornithes
Cohors: Neognathae
Cladus: Pangalloanserae
Cladus: Galloanseres
Ordo: Anseriformes
Familia: Anatidae
Subfamilia: Anatinae
Genus: Nettapus
Species: Nettapus auritus
Name
Nettapus auritus (Boddaert, 1783)
Original combination: Anas aurita Boddaert, 1783
References
Primary references
Boddaert, P. 1783. Table des planches enluminéez d'histoire naturelle de M. D'Aubenton : avec les denominations de M.M. de Buffon, Brisson, Edwards, Linnaeus et Latham, precedé d'une notice des principaux ouvrages zoologiques enluminés. 58 pp. + table, Utrecht. DOI: 10.5962/bhl.title.39835 BHL Reference page.
Vernacular names
Afrikaans: Dwerggans
العربية: إوز قزم أفريقي
azərbaycanca: Afrika kiçik qazı
বাংলা: আফ্রিকার বালিহাঁস
català: Oca pigmea africana
čeština: Kachnička pestrá
Deutsch: Afrikanische Zwergente
English: African Pygmy Goose
español: Gansito africano
suomi: Afrikankääpiösorsa
français: Anserelle naine
magyar: Afrikai törpelúd
italiano: Oca pigmea africana
日本語: アフリカマメガン
Nederlands: Afrikaanse dwergeend
norsk: Praktdvergand
português: Pato-orelhudo
русский: Африканский карликовый гусь
svenska: Afrikansk dvärgand
Tiếng Việt: Ngỗng lùn châu Phi
中文: 厚嘴棉鳧
The African pygmy goose (Nettapus auritus) is a perching duck from sub-Saharan Africa. It is the smallest of Africa's waterfowl, and one of the smallest in the world.[2]
Though pygmy geese have beaks like those of geese, they are more related to the dabbling ducks and other species called 'ducks'.[3]
It is one of the species to which the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds (AEWA) applies.
Taxonomy
The African pygmy goose was described by the French polymath Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon in his Histoire Naturelle des Oiseaux in 1785.[4] The bird was also illustrated in a hand-coloured plate engraved by François-Nicolas Martinet in the Planches Enluminées D'Histoire Naturelle which was produced under the supervision of Edme-Louis Daubenton to accompany Buffon's text.[5] Neither the plate caption nor Buffon's description included a scientific name but in 1783 the Dutch naturalist Pieter Boddaert coined the binomial name Anas aurita in his catalogue of the Planches Enluminées.[6] The type locality is Madagascar.[7] The current genus Nettapus was erected by the German naturalist Johann Friedrich von Brandt 1836.[8] The word Nettapus is from the Ancient Greek nētta "duck" and pous "foot". It was thought that the African pygmy goose possessed the feet and body of a duck and the neck of a goose. The specific auritus is the Latin word for "eared" or "long-eared".[9] The species is monotypic.[10]
Description
Photo: Gary Clark
The African pygmy goose is one of the smallest of the perching ducks, and it has the average weight of about 285 grams (10.1 oz) for males and 260 grams (9.2 oz) for females. Length of individual wings is between 142 millimetres (5.6 in) and 165 millimetres (6.5 in) (not to be confused with wingspan).[11]
They have a short bill which extends up the forehead so they superficially resemble geese.
The males have a white face with black eye patches. The iridescent black crown extends down the back of the neck. This structure fringes powder green ear patches. The upper half of the fore neck is white and forms an open collar around the neck whereas the base if the neck and breast are light chestnut colored. The flanks are more intensely chestnut colored and the back is metallic green. The sixteen tail feathers are black. The wing feathers are black with metallic green iridescence on the coverts, with the exemption of a white bar on the distal secondaries. The belly is white. The bill is yellow with a black tip and the feet are dark-gray to black. The iris of there is reddish brown.[11]
The females have a gray face with a dark brown eye stripe and smudged brown patches on the cheeks and nape. They have dark-brown a forehead, crown and back of the neck with a slight iridescence. The breast and flanks have a dark chestnut coloration. Their back is dark brown. The wing feathers are dark brown-black with the exemption of a white bar on the distal secondaries. The belly is white. The lower part of the bill is yellow, the upper part mottled brown with a dark brown tip and the feet are dark-gray to black.[11]
Ducklings have a white face with a pattern similar to that of the adult female in black and a dark gray eye patch. Their black crown extends in a V-shape from the base of the bill to the back of the neck. The rump and flanks are white, the back and tail black. Neck, breast and belly are light-gray to white the wings are black. The lower part of the bill is pink, the upper part is gray with alight brown tip and the feet are dark-gray to black.[11]
Distribution
The African pygmy goose is known to be nomadic. It can be found across a wide area of sub-Saharan Africa and Madagascar.[12] It lives in habitats of slow flowing or stagnant water with a cover of water lilies (mostly inland wetlands, but also open swamps, farm dens, river pools, and estuaries).[13]
Behavior
The African pygmy goose feeds mainly on the seeds of water lilies (Nymphaea spp.) [14] but also on other floating seeds and small insects as well as other small invertebrates.[11]
They live in strong pair bonds that may last over several seasons and their breeding is triggered by rains.[11] In captivity successful breeding is rare,.[15][16]
References
BirdLife International (2016). "Nettapus auritus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2016: e.T22680095A92842795. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22680095A92842795.en. Retrieved 25 September 2021.
Madge, Steve; Burn, Hilary (1988). Wildfowl. London: Christopher Helm. p. 192. ISBN 978-1-4081-3762-8.
"African pygmy goose". World Association of Zoos and Aquariums. Archived from the original on 7 April 2013. Retrieved 28 December 2012.
Buffon, Georges-Louis Leclerc de (1785). "La Sarcelle de Madagascar". Histoire Naturelle des Oiseaux (in French). Vol. 17. Paris: De L'Imprimerie Royale. p. 394.
Buffon, Georges-Louis Leclerc de; Martinet, François-Nicolas; Daubenton, Edme-Louis; Daubenton, Louis-Jean-Marie (1765–1783). "Sarcelle mâle de Madagascar". Planches Enluminées D'Histoire Naturelle. Vol. 8. Paris: De L'Imprimerie Royale. Plate 973.
Boddaert, Pieter (1783). Table des planches enluminéez d'histoire naturelle de M. D'Aubenton : avec les denominations de M.M. de Buffon, Brisson, Edwards, Linnaeus et Latham, precedé d'une notice des principaux ouvrages zoologiques enluminés (in French). Utrecht. p. 48, Number 770.
Mayr, Ernst; Cottrell, G. William, eds. (1979). Check-list of Birds of the World. Vol. 1 (2nd ed.). Cambridge, Massachusetts: Museum of Comparative Zoology. p. 456.
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. pp. 62, 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.
Kear, Janet (2005). Ducks, Geese and Swans: Species accounts (Cairina to Mergus) [Volume 2 of Ducks, Geese and Swans: Species accounts]. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 908. ISBN 9780198610090.
"African Pygmy Goose, Nettapus auritus". Nature Notes. Retrieved 28 December 2012.
"Nettapus auritus (African pygmy-goose, Pygmy goose)". Biodiversity Explorer. Archived from the original on 10 June 2015. Retrieved 28 December 2012.
Douthwaite, Robert John (1980). "Seasonal changes in the food supply, numbers and male plumages of Pigmy Geese on the Thamalakane river in northern Botswana". Wildfowl. 31: 94–98.
Kolbe, Hartmut (1999). Die Entenvögel der Welt (5th ed.). Stuttgart: Ulmer-Verlag. p. 376.
Searle, K.C. (January 1987). "Breeding the African pygmy goose Nettapus auritus in the Hong Kong Zoological and Botanical Gardens". International Zoo Yearbook. 26 (1): 205–207. doi:10.1111/j.1748-1090.1987.tb03159.x.
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