Pygmy goose
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 Green Pygmy Goose
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The pygmy geese are a group of very small "perching ducks" in the genus Nettapus which breed in the Old World tropics. They are the smallest of all wildfowl. As the "perching ducks" are a paraphyletic group (Livezey 1986), they need to be placed elsewhere. The initially assumed relationship with the dabbling duck subfamily Anatinae[citation needed] has been questioned, and it appears they form a lineage in an ancient Gondwanan radiation of waterfowl, within which they are of unclear affinities (Sraml et al. 1996).
There are three species in the genus
- Green Pygmy Goose Nettapus pulchellus of northern Australia and southern New Guinea.
- Cotton Pygmy Goose Nettapus coromandelianus of Southeast Asia.
- African Pygmy Goose Nettapus auritus of sub-Saharan Africa.
Their habitat is still freshwater lakes, where these neat ducks feed on seeds and other vegetation, especially water lilies.
Pygmy geese have short bills, rounded heads and short legs. They nest in tree holes.
[edit] References
- Livezey, Bradley C. (1986): A phylogenetic analysis of recent anseriform genera using morphological characters. Auk 103(4): 737-754. PDF fulltext
- Madge, Steve & Burn, Hilary (1987): Wildfowl : an identification guide to the ducks, geese and swans of the world. Christopher Helm, London. ISBN 0-7470-2201-1
- Sraml, M.; Christidis, L.; Easteal, S.; Horn, P. & Collet, C. (1996): Molecular Relationships Within Australasian Waterfowl (Anseriformes). Australian Journal of Zoology 44(1): 47-58. doi:10.1071/ZO9960047 (HTML abstract)
