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Posted by SaraAlice Zimmerly on 13:37:52 03/13/14
In Reply to: greylag goose posted by SaraAlice Zimmerly
Thanks, Robin and Bill for the list. It's a book in its own right. I'll put the goose on my list since it was new to me and I enjoyed watching it.
I noticed its scientific name is (Genus, species) Anser anser. I think that when it has a double name, it is a species from which the naming of a group (genus, but not species) starts naming, true?
However, in the front of Nat. Geo.Birder's Journal there is a list and it's titled (family)Anseriformes under which are all the geese and ducks. Then there are several sorts of (genera - pl?), and specific types are species?
The geese are not all the genus of Anser. And none of the ducks are. Why not?
The Sittidae, for example, are all (Sitta whatever). Simple - Nuthatches, all three of them. But the Alaudidae have two different genera of Alauda (ok) and then Eremophila. And there are only two species, and they are both larks. Not so simple.
I know this isn't earth shattering, and it's often boring, but I have noticed it and got to wondering again. It seems to make the avian family tree rather complex and twiggy, don't you think? And the idea of Latin names is to keep things together and be able to recognize them and group them easily?
Under my idea, all the ducks could be one genus and all the geese another - simple. And the ABA and the serious birders are all throwing up their hands, right? I know, I'm missing something in this picture. Has to do with orders and families, I guess? And the poor people who are so new they never thought of this. Imagine when they get there!
Do you suppose the graylag might mate with the Pekin ducks?
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