Order ANSERIFORMES
Compiler and date details
Updated May 2011 - N.W. Longmore, Museum Victoria
R. Schodde CSIRO Australian National Wildlife Collection, Canberra, ACT, Australia
Introduction
Anseriformes is a large order of three families of duck or duck-like birds (Sibley & Ahlquist 1990; Livezey 1997) containing some 150 gregarious species; two of these families have Australian representatives the Anseranatidae (one species) and the Anatidae (29 species). Anseranatidae having been split from typical Anatidae by several recent publications (Woolfenden 1961; Olson & Feduccia 1980). All are highly adapted for an aquatic lifestyle. The monotypic anseranatid — Anseranas semipalmata has partially webbed toes and an elongate, coiled syrinx, allowing it to produce deep far-carrying calls. All others in the family Anatidae are web-footed and their calls are slightly softer than Anseranas. All are excellent swimmers and are generally found about wetlands, occasionally extending to the sea in near-shore situations.
The order is well established, having originated during the Cretaceous period. All possess a bill originally designed for sifting and grinding and each may feed either in water by diving, skimming and sifting the surface, or in the case of the swans using elongate necks to reach submerged water plants. Some are adapted to grazing on short grasses such as Chenonetta and Cecropsis.
General References
Livezey, B.C. 1997. A phylogenetic analysis of basal Anseriformes, the fossil Presbyornis, and the interordinal relationships of waterfowl. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 121: 361–428
Olson, S.L. & Feduccia, A. 1980. Presbyoprnis and the origin of the Anserformes (Aves: Charadriomorphae). Smithsonian Contributions to Zoology 323: 1-24
Sibley, C.G. & Ahlquist, J.E. 1990. Phylogeny and Classification of Birds. A Study in Molecular Evolution. New Haven : Yale University Press xxiii 976 pp.
Woolfenden, G.E. 1961. Postcranial osteology of the waterfowl. Bulletin of the Florida State Museum 6: 1-129