Grey geese
Western Greylag Geese (Anser anser anser)
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Aves Order: Anseriformes Family: Anatidae Subfamily: Anserinae Genus: Anser Brisson, 1760
Species
see text. Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (1024x768, 208 KB) Description Greygoose on Serpentine in London Source Author  Karrackoo Date  13. ... Binomial name Anser anser (Linnaeus, 1758) Subspecies (Western Greylag Goose) (Eastern Greylag Goose) The Greylag Goose, Anser anser, is a bird with a wide range in the Old World. ... For other uses, see Scientific classification (disambiguation). ... Animalia redirects here. ... Typical Classes See below Chordates (phylum Chordata) are a group of animals that includes the vertebrates, together with several closely related invertebrates. ... Aves redirects here. ... Families Anhimidae Anseranatidae Anatidae †Cnemiornithidae †Dromornithidae †Presbyornithidae The order Anseriformes contains about 150 species of birds in three families: the Anhimidae (the screamers), Anseranatidae (the Magpie-goose), and the Anatidae, which includes over 140 species of waterfowl, among them the ducks, geese, and swans. ... Subfamilies Dendrocygninae Thalassorninae Anserinae Stictonettinae Plectropterinae Tadorninae Anatinae Aythyinae Merginae Oxyurinae and see text Anatidae is the biological family that includes the ducks and most duck-like waterfowl, such as geese and swan. ... Genera Cygnus Coscoroba Anser (including Chen) Branta Cereopsis The Anserinae is a subfamily of the waterfowl family Anatidae. ... Mathurin Jacques Brisson (April 30, 1723 - June 23, 1806) was a French zoologist and natural philosopher. ... 1760 was a leap year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biodiversity. ...
Synonyms
Cygnopsis Brandt, 1836 Cycnopsis Agassiz, 1846 (emendation) Eulabeia Reichenbach, 1852 Heterochen Short, 1970 In scientific nomenclature, synonyms are different scientific names used for a single taxon. ... Johann Friedrich von Brandt (May 25, 1802 - July 15, 1879) was a German naturalist. ... October 2, Charles Darwin returns from his voyage around the world. ... Louis Agassiz Jean Louis Rodolphe Agassiz (May 28, 1807-December 14, 1873) was a Swiss-born American zoologist, glaciologist, and geologist, the husband of educator Elizabeth Cabot Cary Agassiz, and one of the first world-class American scientists. ... 1846 was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... Heinrich Gottlieb Ludwig Reichenbach Heinrich Gottlieb Ludwig Reichenbach (January 8, 1793 - March 17, 1879) was a German botanist and ornithologist. ... 1852 was a leap year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... 1970 (MCMLXX) was a common year starting on Thursday (the link is to a full 1970 calendar). ...

Booze The grey geese are the genus Anser in the narrow sense. They are waterfowl belonging to the true geese and swan subfamily Anserinae. This genus contains species which are almost exclusively Eurasian in distribution, but at least one species is found in any place in the subarctic region in summer. They migrate north in winter, often to inland locations, and several species are found away from the coast all year round. For other uses of the word, please see Genus (disambiguation). ... Falcated Duck at Slimbridge Wildfowl and Wetlands centre, Gloucestershire, England Wildfowl or waterfowl, also waterbirds, is the collective term for the approximately 147 species of swans, geese and ducks, classified in the order Anseriformes, family Anatidae. ... Other uses: Goose (disambiguation) Genera Anser Branta Chen Cereopsis † see also: Swan, Duck Anatidae Goose (plural geese) is the general English name for a considerable number of birds, belonging to the family Anatidae. ... Genera Cygnus Bechstein 1803 Coscoroba Reichenbach 1853 Swans are large water birds of the family Anatidae, which also includes geese and ducks. ... ... Genera Cygnus Coscoroba Anser (including Chen) Branta Cereopsis The Anserinae is a subfamily of the waterfowl family Anatidae. ... Eurasia African-Eurasian aspect of Earth Eurasia is a landmass covering about 54,000,000 km² compared with the Americas (approximately 42,000,000 km²), Africa (approximately 30,000,000 km²), Antarctica (approximately 13,000,000 km²) and Oceania (9,000,000 km²). Eurasia is composed of the traditional continents... The subarctic is a region in the Northern Hemisphere immediately south of the true Arctic and covering much of Canada and Siberia, the north of Scandinavia, northern Mongolia and the Chinese province of Heilongjiang. ...

The white geese are sometimes placed here too, sometimes split off in the genus Chen. While they cannot be distinguished anatomically , they form a distinct lineage in evaluations of molecular data^{[citation needed]}, and also differ in their biogeography, essentially replacing the white geese in Eurasia. The AOU is one notable ornithological organization which limits the genus Anser to the grey geese. Other uses: Goose (disambiguation) Genera Anser Branta Chen Cereopsis † see also: Swan, Duck Anatidae Goose (plural geese) is the general English name for a considerable number of birds, belonging to the family Anatidae. ... Anatomical drawing of the human muscles from the Encyclopédie. ... Biogeography is the science which deals with patterns of species distribution and the processes that result in such patterns. ... The American Ornithologists Union (AOU) is the oldest and largest organization in the New World devoted to the scientific study of birds. ... Ornithology (from the Greek ornis = bird and logos = word/science) is the branch of zoology concerned with the scientific study of birds. ...

Anser as understood here (i.e. sensu AOU) contains 7-8 species which quite span the whole range of true geese shapes and sizes. They range from the appropriately named Swan Goose to the plump Bar-headed Goose and the tiny Lesser White-fronted Goose. All have legs that are of reddish, pink, or orange color, and many have such coloration on their bills also. All have white under- and uppertail coverts, and while most have some sort of white pattern on their heads, they are never entirely white-headed except for domestic breeds. Binomial name Anser cygnoides (Linnaeus, 1758) The Swan Goose, Anser cygnoides, is a large goose breeding in Mongolia and eastern Russia. ... Binomial name Anser indicus (Latham, 1790) The Bar-headed Goose (Anser indicus) is a goose which breeds in Central Asia and migrates over the Himalayas to winter in the wetlands of India. ... Other uses: Goose (disambiguation) Binomial name Anser erythropus (Linnaeus, 1758) The Lesser White-fronted Goose (Anser erythropus) is a goose closely related to the larger White-fronted Goose (). It breeds in northernmost Asia, but it is a scarce breeder in Europe. ...

Living species

• Greylag Goose, Anser anser
  • Domesticated goose, Anser anser domesticus
• White-fronted Goose, Anser albifrons
  • Greenland White-fronted Goose, Anser albifrons flavirostris
• Lesser White-fronted Goose, Anser erythropus
• (Taiga) Bean Goose, Anser fabalis
  • Tundra Bean Goose, Anser (fabalis) serrirostris
• Pink-footed Goose, Anser brachyrhynchus
• Bar-headed Goose, Anser indicus
• Swan Goose, Anser cygnoides
  • Chinese Goose and African Goose, Anser cygnoides domesticus

Fossil record
Numerous fossil species have been allocated to this genus. As the true geese are near-impossible to assign osteologically to genus, this must be viewed with caution. It can be assumed with reasonable certainty that European fossils from known inland sites indeed belong into Anser. Given that species related to the Canada Goose have been described from the Late Miocene onwards in North America too - sometimes from the same localities as the presumed grey geese - while the genera Anser and Branta today do practically not coexist in freshwater habitat casts serious doubt on the correct generic assignment of the supposed North American fossil geese. The Early Pliocene Branta howardae is one of the cases where doubts have been expressed about its generic assignment^{[citation needed]}. Similarly, Heterochen = Anser pratensis seems to differ profoundly from other species of Anser and might be placed into a different genus; alternatively, it might have been an unique example of a grey goose adapted for perching in trees (Short 1970)^[1]. Binomial name Anser anser (Linnaeus, 1758) Subspecies (Western Greylag Goose) (Eastern Greylag Goose) The Greylag Goose, Anser anser, is a bird with a wide range in the Old World. ... Domesticated geese are descendants of wild geese now kept as poultry. ... Binomial name Anser albifrons (Scopoli, 1769) Subspecies (European White-fronted Goose) (Pacific White-fronted Goose) (Gambels White-fronted Goose) (Tule Goose) (Greenland White-fronted Goose) The White-fronted Goose (Anser albifrons) is a goose closely related to the smaller Lesser White-fronted Goose (). In North America it is known... Other uses: Goose (disambiguation) Binomial name Anser erythropus (Linnaeus, 1758) The Lesser White-fronted Goose (Anser erythropus) is a goose closely related to the larger White-fronted Goose (). It breeds in northernmost Asia, but it is a scarce breeder in Europe. ... Binomial name Anser fabalis (Latham, 1787) The Bean Goose (Anser fabalis) is a medium-sized to large goose breeding in northern Europe and Asia. ... Binomial name Anser brachyrhynchus Baillon, 1834 The Pink-footed Goose (Anser brachyrhynchus) is a goose breeding in Greenland, Iceland and Svalbard. ... Binomial name Anser indicus (Latham, 1790) The Bar-headed Goose (Anser indicus) is a goose which breeds in Central Asia and migrates over the Himalayas to winter in the wetlands of India. ... Binomial name Anser cygnoides (Linnaeus, 1758) The Swan Goose, Anser cygnoides, is a large goose breeding in Mongolia and eastern Russia. ... Three small ammonite fossils, each approximately 1. ... Osteology is the scientific study of bones. ... Binomial name Branta canadensis (Linnaeus, 1758) Canada Goose distribution, including introduced and feral populations Yellow: summer Blue: winter Green: year-round Subspecies Dusky Canada Goose Vancouver Canada Goose Lesser Canada Goose Moffitts Canada Goose Giant Canada Goose Interior Canada Goose Atlantic Canada Goose The Canada Goose (Branta canadensis) belongs... The Miocene epoch is a period of time that extends from about 23 to 5. ... World map showing North America A satellite composite image of North America. ... The Pliocene epoch (spelled Pleiocene in some older texts) is the period in the geologic timescale that extends from 5. ...

• Anser arenosus (Big Sandy Late Miocene of Wickieup, USA)
• Anser arizonae (Big Sandy Late Miocene of Wickieup, USA)
• Anser atavus (Middle/Late Miocene of Bavaria, Germany) - formerly Cygnus
• Anser cygniformis (Late Miocene of Steinheim, Germany)
• Anser oeningensis (Late Miocene of Oehningen, Switzerland)
• Anser pratensis (Valentine Early Pliocene of Brown County, USA) - formerly Heterochen
• Anser pressus (Glenns Ferry Late Pliocene of Hagerman, USA) - formerly Chen pressa
• Anser thompsoni (Pliocene of Nebraska)
• Anser azerbaidzhanicus (Early Pleistocene of Binagada, Azerbaijan)

The Maltese swan Cygnus equitum was occasionally placed into Anser; Anser condoni is a synonym of Cygnus paloregonus (Brodkorb, 1964).

References

• Brodkorb, Pierce (1964): Catalogue of Fossil Birds: Part 2 (Anseriformes through Galliformes). Bulletin of the Florida State Museum 8(3): 195-335. PDF or JPEG fulltext

• Carboneras, Carles (1992): Family Anatidae (Ducks, Geese and Swans). In: del Hoyo, Josep; Elliott, Andrew & Sargatal, Jordi (editors): Handbook of Birds of the World, Volume 1: Ostrich to Ducks: 536-629. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona. ISBN 84-87334-10-5

• Livezey, Bradley C. (1986): A phylogenetic analysis of recent anseriform genera using morphological characters. Auk 103(4): 737-754. PDF fulltext

• Short, Lester L. (1970): A new anseriform genus and species from the Nebraska Pliocene. Auk 87(3): 537-543. PDF fulltext

Handbook of Birds of the World vol. ... The Auk is a quarterly journal and the official publication of the American Ornithologists Union, having been continuously published by that body since 1884. ... The Auk is a quarterly journal and the official publication of the American Ornithologists Union, having been continuously published by that body since 1884. ...

Footnotes

1. ^ Short (1970) considers this bird to be somewhat reminiscent of geese and swans, shelducks, and the "Cairinini" or "perching ducks". The latter are now known to be a paraphyletic assemblage of miscellaneous waterfowl the morphological similarities of which is the product of convergent evolution towards being able to perch in trees (Livezey 1986).