Mareca is a genus or subgenus of ducks in the family Anatidae that includes the wigeons.

Mareca
Eurasian wigeon, Mareca penelope
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Anseriformes
Family: Anatidae
Tribe: Anatini
Genus: Mareca
Stephens, 1824
Type species
Anas penelope
Linnaeus, 1758
Synonyms
  • Anas

The species now placed in this genus were formerly placed in the genus Anas. A molecular phylogentic study comparing mitochondrial DNA sequences published in 2009 found that the genus Anas, as then defined, was not monophyletic.[1] Based on the published phylogeny, the genus Anas was split into four monophyletic genera with five extant species moved into the resurrected genus Mareca.[2]

The genus Mareca was introduced by English naturalist James Francis Stephens in 1824. The type species is the Eurasian wigeon.[3][4] The name of the genus is from the Portuguese word Marreco for a small duck.[5]

Extant species

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The genus Mareca contains these species:[2]

Genus Mareca Stephens, 1824 – two species
Common name Scientific name and subspecies Range Size and ecology IUCN status and estimated population
Gadwall

 
Male
 
Female

Mareca strepera
(Linnaeus, 1758)

two subspecies
Europe, Asia and central North America
 
Size:

Habitat:

Diet:
 LC 


Falcated duck

 
Male
 
Female

Mareca falcata
(Georgi, 1775)
Eastern Asia Size:

Habitat:

Diet:
 NT 


Eurasian wigeon

 
Male
 
Female

Mareca penelope
(Linnaeus, 1758)
Europe and Asia
 
Size:

Habitat:

Diet:
 LC 


Chiloé wigeon

 
Male
 
Female

Mareca sibilatrix
(Poeppig, 1829)
Southern South America
 
Size:

Habitat:

Diet:
 LC 


American wigeon

 
Male
 
Female

Mareca americana
(Gmelin, JF, 1789)
North of Canada and Alaska and also in the Interior West through Idaho, Colorado, the Dakotas, and Minnesota, as well as eastern Washington and Oregon
 
Size:

Habitat:

Diet:
 LC 



Fossils

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Image Scientific name Common name Distribution
Mareca marecula Amsterdam wigeon Extinct, formerly found on Île Amsterdam in the French Southern and Antarctic Lands

Phylogeny

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Cladogram based on the analysis of Gonzalez and colleagues published in 2009.[1]

Mareca

References

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  1. ^ a b Gonzalez, J.; Düttmann, H.; Wink, M. (2009). "Phylogenetic relationships based on two mitochondrial genes and hybridization patterns in Anatidae". Journal of Zoology. 279 (3): 310–318. doi:10.1111/j.1469-7998.2009.00622.x.
  2. ^ a b Gill, Frank; Donsker, David, eds. (2017). "Screamers, ducks, geese & swans". World Bird List Version 7.3. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 23 July 2017.
  3. ^ Stephens, James Francis (1824). General zoology, or Systematic natural history, by the late George Shaw. Vol. 12 Part 2. London: Printed for G. Kearsley. p. 130.
  4. ^ 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. 460.
  5. ^ Jobling, James A. (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London: Christopher Helm. p. 241. ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4.