![]() ![]() It was formerly thought to be related to the shelduck tribe. As of 2013, it was commonly listed as incertae sedis but likely within the Anatinae and allied to the Anatini. ![]() Its taxonomic relationships with other waterfowl species remains uncertain DNA analysis has placed it as a sister to the South American dabbling ducks (Anatini), but with no close relative. The specific epithet malacorhynchos is also from Ancient Greek and combines malakos meaning "soft" with rhunkhos meaning "bill". The genus name combines the Ancient Greek humēn, humenos meaning "skin" or "membrane" with laimos meaning "throat". ![]() The blue duck is now the only species placed in the genus Hymenolaimus that was introduced specifically for the species by George Robert Gray in 1843. He coined the binomial name Anas malacorhynchos and cited the earlier works. When in 1789 the German naturalist Johann Friedrich Gmelin revised and expanded Carl Linnaeus's Systema Naturae he included the blue duck and placed it with all the other ducks in the genus Anas. Latham used the English name, the "soft-billed duck". A specimen was described in 1785 by the English ornithologist John Latham in his A General Synopsis of Birds. In 1777 both Cook and the naturalist Georg Forster mentioned the blue duck in their separate accounts of the voyage. The whio is depicted on the reverse side of the New Zealand $10 banknote.Ĭaptain James Cook saw the blue duck in Dusky Sound, South Island, New Zealand, on his second voyage to the south Pacific. Its exact taxonomic status is still unresolved, but it appears to be most closely related to the tribe Anatini, the dabbling ducks. It is the only member of the genus Hymenolaimus. The blue duck or whio ( Hymenolaimus malacorhynchos) is a member of the duck, goose and swan family Anatidae endemic to New Zealand. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |