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Concept
Anser (bird)
Summary
Anser is a waterfowl genus that includes the grey geese and the white geese. It belongs to the true goose and swan rank of Anserinae under the family of Anatidae. The genus has a Holarctic distribution, with at least one species breeding in any open, wet habitats in the subarctic and cool temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere in summer. Some also breed further south, reaching into warm temperate regions. They mostly migrate south in winter, typically to regions in the temperate zone between the January 0 °C (32 °F) and 5 °C (41 °F) isotherms.
The genus contains 11 living species.
All species of this genus span nearly the whole range of true goose shapes and sizes. The largest is the greylag goose at .
All have legs and feet that are pink, or orange, and bills that are pink, orange, or black. All have white under- and upper-tail coverts, and several have some extent of white on their heads. The neck, body and wings are grey or white, with black or blackish primary—and also often secondary—remiges (pinions). The three species of "white geese" (emperor, snow and Ross's geese) were formerly treated as a separate genus Chen, but are now generally included in Anser. The closely related "black" geese in the genus Branta differ in having black legs, and generally darker body plumage.
The genus Anser was introduced by the French zoologist Mathurin Jacques Brisson in 1760. The name comes from the Latin word anser meaning "goose" used as the specific epithet for the greylag goose (Anas anser) introduced by Linnaeus in 1758, that epithet was repeated to become its generic name as the type species.
The evolutionary relationships between Anser geese have been difficult to resolve because of their rapid radiation during the Pleistocene and frequent hybridization. In 2016 Ottenburghs and colleagues published a study that established the phylogenetic relationships between the species by comparing exonic DNA sequences.
The genus contains 11 species:
The following white geese were separated as the genus Chen.
Official source
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