Anseriformes

Anseriformes is an order of birds also known as waterfowl that comprises 178 living species of birds in three families: Anhimidae, Anseranatidae, and Anatidae, the largest family, which includes the other 174 species of waterfowl, among them the ducks, geese, and swans. Most modern species in the order are highly adapted for an aquatic existence at the water surface. With the exception of screamers, males have penises, a trait that has been lost in the Neoaves, the clade consisting of all other modern birds except the galliformes and paleognaths. Due to their aquatic nature, most species are web-footed.

Anseriformes

fir0002 flagstaffotos [at] gmail.com Canon 20D + Canon 400mm f/5.6 L · GFDL 1.2 · via Wikipedia/Commons. May be a photograph of a specimen, or an artist’s reconstruction — an interpretation of a skeleton, since colour and soft tissue are almost never preserved.

On record

Recorded, not inferred
Also called
waterfowlPBDB
Sits inside
GalloanserimorphaePBDB
Diet
herbivorePBDB
Life habit
volantPBDB
Motility
actively mobilePBDB, for Theropoda
Environment
terrestrialPBDB, for Theropoda

Time the record covers

At least 72 million years on record.

The record covers at least 72.2 Mya to 11.7 ka. No occurrence read is dated outside 83.6 Mya to 0 Mya.

Late Cretaceous — about 14 of 1821 occurrencesLate CretaceousPaleocene — about 13 of 1821 occurrencesPaleoceneEocene — about 32 of 1821 occurrencesEoceneOligocene — about 26 of 1821 occurrencesOligoceneMiocene — about 145 of 1821 occurrencesMiocenePliocene — about 71 of 1821 occurrencesPleistocene — about 911 of 1821 occurrences85–82 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences82–80 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences80–77 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences77–74 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences74–71 Mya — about 3 occurrences71–68 Mya — about 6 occurrences68–65 Mya — about 5 occurrences65–63 Mya — about 0.8 occurrences63–60 Mya — about 1 occurrence60–57 Mya — about 7 occurrences57–54 Mya — about 7 occurrences54–51 Mya — about 5 occurrences51–48 Mya — about 4 occurrences48–45 Mya — about 2 occurrences45–43 Mya — about 1 occurrence43–40 Mya — about 2 occurrences40–37 Mya — about 4 occurrences37–34 Mya — about 10 occurrences34–31 Mya — about 5 occurrences31–28 Mya — about 4 occurrences28–26 Mya — about 8 occurrences26–23 Mya — about 10 occurrences23–20 Mya — about 9 occurrences20–17 Mya — about 22 occurrences17–14 Mya — about 32 occurrences14–11 Mya — about 34 occurrences11–8.5 Mya — about 25 occurrences8.5–5.7 Mya — about 20 occurrences5.7–2.8 Mya — about 67 occurrences2.8–0 Mya — about 1526 occurrences72.2 Mya11.7 ka85 Mya0 Mya

1,821 occurrences of Anseriformes on record, most of them in the Pleistocene. The Paleobiology Database records this as a living group. Bar height is expected occurrences, not a count: each fossil is spread across the span it is dated to, so a tall narrow bar means tight dating and a low wide one means loose.

When

1,821 occurrences

These are dates about fossils, not the animal: the record can only begin after it arose and end before it died out, so either end may reach further. Shares are expected occurrences: a fossil dated to a span is counted partly in each period it straddles. More on what this infers.

Found in

125 formations

Yorktown — 35.36°N, 76.82°WTamiami — 27.34°N, 82.51°WTamiami — 27.78°N, 82.68°WTamiami — 27.37°N, 82.45°WBannockburn — 44.91°S, 169.86°EBannockburn — 44.89°S, 169.84°EBannockburn — 44.88°S, 169.75°EGabal Silsila — 24.77°N, 32.95°EGabal Silsila — 24.43°N, 32.95°ESan Pedro — 33.75°N, 118.28°WSan Pedro — 34.03°N, 118.53°WHillgrove — 45.13°S, 170.97°EBermont — 27.70°N, 82.50°WGebel Silsila-YCS — 24.50°N, 33.00°ESanta Cruz — 50.00°S, 70.00°WSanta Cruz — 50.23°S, 72.37°WSanta Cruz — 50.50°S, 72.25°WSanta Cruz — 50.95°S, 69.20°WSanta Cruz — 50.35°S, 68.97°WSanta Cruz — 50.35°S, 68.95°WSanta Cruz — 51.57°S, 69.42°WPalos Verdes Sand — 33.60°N, 117.80°WPalos Verdes Sand — 34.00°N, 118.20°WPalos Verdes Sand — 33.99°N, 118.45°WTemblor — 35.46°N, 118.92°WTemblor — 36.54°N, 120.55°WTemblor — 35.30°N, 118.50°WOshin — 43.47°N, 100.45°EOkeechobee — 27.53°N, 80.47°WNamba — 31.23°S, 140.23°ENamba — 31.02°S, 140.32°ECromer Forest Bed — 52.94°N, 1.25°ECromer Forest Bed — 52.94°N, 1.27°ECromer Forest Bed — 51.64°N, 0.80°ECromer Forest Bed — 52.88°N, 1.44°EHagerman — 42.81°N, 114.95°WHagerman — 42.79°N, 114.95°WManix — 34.80°N, 117.00°WLópez de Bertodano — 64.27°S, 56.72°WLópez de Bertodano — 63.87°S, 57.57°WLópez de Bertodano — 64.26°S, 56.78°WLópez de Bertodano — 63.85°S, 57.57°WNaran Bulak — 44.62°N, 106.18°ENaran Bulak — 43.47°N, 100.38°EJuntura — 43.60°N, 117.50°WPampean — 38.20°S, 59.12°WTurlock Lake — 37.06°N, 120.20°WAmerican Falls Lake Bed E — 42.80°N, 112.90°WBecerra — 19.90°N, 99.13°W

Loading coastlines…

The named rock units Anseriformes has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 101 further formations hold fewer occurrences each and are not listed. 1,421 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Anseriformes and its relatives

Pleistocene

Where Anseriformes and its relatives were recorded in the Pleistocene.

Found in the same rock

4,352 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 667 sites for Anseriformes, and this reads 240 of them. Of that, one read hit the database's own return limit, so every count below is a floor rather than a total. The number is how many of those sites it was catalogued from too. The 24 sharing the most are listed.

This is not a list of everything alive at the time. It is only what has come out of the same ground as this animal and been written down.

Entered from

409 references

Each of the 1,821 occurrences read was entered from one of these publications, ordered by how many each accounts for. This is not a search for papers mentioning the name. 397 further references are not listed. Entries link to doi.org where the Paleobiology Database holds an identifier, and to its own record where it does not. Relayed as the Paleobiology Database holds them, not checked against what they resolve to.

Media and terms

Media content2

Picture of Anseriformes

Credit
fir0002 flagstaffotos [at] gmail.com Canon 20D + Canon 400mm f/5.6 L
Licence
GFDL 1.2
Commercial use
the licence allows it

3D model

Source
Sketchfab
Licence
CC Attribution
Commercial use
cannot be read from the licence given — check the record

Smithsonian Open Access and MorphoSource were not reached for this taxon, so this list is what the others held rather than everything there is.

The description on this site

Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0

This is what the site found, which is not the same as what exists.

Keep going

What may have been alongside itGalloanserimorphae through timeFormations of the PleistoceneThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. (Wagler 1831)