Tachyeres

Taxobox

---

image_width = 240px
image_caption = Falkland Flightless Steamer Duck, "Tachyeres brachypterus"
name = Steamer Ducks
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Chordata
classis = Aves
ordo = Anseriformes
familia = Anatidae
genus = "Tachyeres"
genus_authority = Owen, 1875
subdivision_ranks = Species
subdivision = "Tachyeres patachonicus" "Tachyeres pteneres" "Tachyeres brachypterus" "Tachyeres leucocephalus"

"Tachyeres" (Steamer Ducks) ["Tachyeres", "having fast oars" or "fast rower", from Ancient Greek "tachy-" "fast" + "eret", "oar" . The common name "steamer ducks" derives from the fact that, when swimming fast, they flap their wings into the water as well as using their feet, creating an effect like a paddle steamer.] is a genus of ducks in the bird family Anatidae. All of the four species occur in South America, and all except "T. patachonicus" are flightless; even this one species capable of flight rarely takes to the air.

They are usually placed in the shelduck subfamily Tadorninae. However, mtDNA sequence analyses of the cytochrome "b" and NADH dehydrogenase subunit 2 genes (Johnson & Sorenson, 1999) indicate that "Tachyeres" rather belongs into a distinct clade of aberrant South American dabbling ducks, which also includes the Brazilian, the Crested, and the Bronze-winged Ducks.

There are four species:
*Flying Steamer Duck "Tachyeres patachonicus"
*Magellanic Flightless Steamer Duck "Tachyeres pteneres"
*White-headed Flightless Steamer Duck "Tachyeres leucocephalus"
*Falkland Flightless Steamer Duck "Tachyeres brachypterus"

The White-headed Flightless Steamer Duck was only described in 1981.

References

* Johnson, Kevin P. & Sorenson, Michael D. (1999): Phylogeny and biogeography of dabbling ducks (genus Anas): a comparison of molecular and morphological evidence. "Auk" 116(3): 792–805. [http://elibrary.unm.edu/sora/Auk/v116n03/p0792-p0805.pdf PDF fulltext]

Footnotes