1996/02/01 by Storrs L. Olson, Pierre Jouventin · 2 citations
Environmental Science · Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology · #Avian ecology and behavior #Genetic diversity and population structure #Plant and Fungal Species Descriptions
paper · pdf · doi:10.2307/1369501
openalex publication_date 1996/02/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
The islands of Amsterdam and St. Paul each appear to have been inhabited by endemic populations of ducks that were exterminated by humans or human-introduced mammals in the past two hundred years. The duck from St. Paul is known only from a historical account in 1793. Abundant bone remains of a duck from Amsterdam Island are described as a new species, Anas marecula. This was a small, teal-sized species with very reduced wings and pectoral girdle, so that it was certainly flightless. The short, pointed bill suggests a possible derivation of the species from an ancestor related to the widgeons formerly segregated in the genus Mareca.