Goldeneye (duck)
Goldeneye | |
---|---|
Common goldeneye (Bucephala clangula) | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Aves |
Order: | Anseriformes |
Family: | Anatidae |
Subfamily: | Merginae |
Genus: | Bucephala S.F. Baird, 1858 |
Species | |
Synonyms | |
Charitonetta |
Bucephala is a genus of ducks found in the Northern Hemisphere. The genus name is derived from Ancient Greek boukephalos, "bullheaded", from bous "bull", and kephale, "head", a reference to the crest of the bufflehead making its head look large.[1]
The bufflehead was formerly separated in its own genus Charitonetta, while the goldeneyes proper were mistakenly placed in Clangula (as Clangula americana), the genus of the long-tailed duck, which at that time was placed in Harelda.[2]
The three living species are:
Image | Scientific name | Common Name | Distribution |
---|---|---|---|
Bucephala clangula | Common goldeneye | Canada and the northern United States, Scandinavia, the Baltic States, and northern Russia | |
Bucephala islandica | Barrow's goldeneye | northwestern North America | |
Bucephala albeola | Bufflehead | North America and the southern United States. |
- Bucephala cereti (Sajóvölgyi Middle Miocene of Mátraszõlõs, Hungary - Late Pliocene of Chilhac, France)
- Bucephala ossivalis (Late Miocene/Early Pliocene of Bone Valley, United States), which was very similar to the common goldeneye and may even have been a paleosubspecies or direct ancestor
- Bucephala fossilis (Late Pliocene of California, United States)
- Bucephala angustipes (Early Pleistocene of central Europe)
- Bucephala sp. (Early Pleistocene of Dursunlu, Turkey: Louchart et al. 1998)
References
- Louchart, Antoine; Mourer-Chauviré, Cécile; Guleç, Erksin; Howell, Francis Clark & White, Tim D. (1998). L'avifaune de Dursunlu, Turquie, Pléistocène inférieur: climat, environnement et biogéographie. C. R. Acad. Sci. Paris IIA 327(5):341-346. [French with English abridged version] doi:10.1016/S1251-8050(98)80053-0 (HTML abstract)
Media related to Bucephala at Wikimedia Commons
- ^ Jobling, James A (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London: Christopher Helm. p. 79. ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4.
- ^ Report of the National conference on utilization of forest products. New national museum, Washington, DC, November 19 and 20, 1924. Issue 13. US Govt. print. off. 1925.
External links
- Common Goldeneye at Birdzilla