Anser (bird)

{{Short description|Genus of birds}} {{Redirect|Grey goose|the vodka|Grey Goose (vodka)||Grey Goose (disambiguation)}} {{Automatic taxobox | fossil_range = [[Miocene]]-[[Holocene]] | image = Greygoose.jpg | image_caption = Pair of [[greylag geese]], ''Anser anser'' | display_parents = 2 | taxon = Anser | parent_authority = [[Nicholas Aylward Vigors|Vigors]] 1825 | authority = [[Mathurin Jacques Brisson|Brisson]], 1760 | type_species = ''[[Greylag goose|Anas anser]]''<ref name=HM4>{{cite web |url= https://www.aviansystematics.org/4th-edition-checklist?viewfamilies=14 |title= Anatidae |author= |date= |website= aviansystematics.org |publisher= The Trust for Avian Systematics |access-date= 2023-08-05}}</ref> | type_species_authority = [[Carl Linnaeus|Linnaeus]], [[10th edition of Systema Naturae|1758]] | subdivision_ranks = Species | subdivision = *''[[Anser albifrons]]'' *''[[Anser anser]]'' *''[[Anser brachyrhynchus]]'' *''[[Anser caerulescens]]'' *''[[Anser canagicus]]'' *''[[Anser cygnoides]]'' *''[[Anser fabalis]]'' *''[[Anser erythropus]]'' *''[[Anser indicus]]'' *''[[Anser rossii]]'' *''[[Anser serrirostris]]'' and see text | synonyms = ''Chen'' [[Heinrich Boie|Boie]], 1822 (but see text) ''Cygnopsis'' [[Johann Friedrich von Brandt|Brandt]], 1836 ''Cycnopsis'' [[Louis Agassiz|Agassiz]], 1846 (emendation) ''Eulabeia'' [[Ludwig Reichenbach|Reichenbach]], 1852 ''Philacte'' Bannister, 1870 ''Heterochen'' Short, 1970 (but see text) }}

'''''Anser''''' is a [[waterfowl]] [[genus]] that includes the '''grey geese''' and the '''white geese'''. It belongs to the true [[goose]] and [[swan]] [[subfamily]] of [[Anserinae]] under the family of [[Anatidae]].<ref name="IOU"/> 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 farther south, reaching into warm temperate regions. They mostly [[bird migration|migrate]] south in winter, typically to regions in the temperate zone between the January 0 °C (32 °F) and 5 °C (41 °F) [[isotherm (contour line)|isotherm]]s.

The genus contains 11 living species.<ref name="IOU"/>

== Description == The species of this genus span nearly the whole range of true goose shapes and sizes. The largest are the [[Bean goose|bean]], [[Greylag goose|greylag]] and [[swan geese]] at up to around {{cvt|4|kg|0}} in weight (with [[Domestic goose|domestic forms]] far exceeding this), and the smallest are the [[Lesser white-fronted goose|lesser white-fronted]] and [[Ross's geese]], which range from about {{cvt|1.3|to(-)|2.3|kg|0}}.<ref name="hbw"/>

All have legs and feet that are pink or orange, and bills that are pink, orange, black, or patterned in a combination of these colours. All have white under- and upper-tail [[covert (feather)|coverts]], and some 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 goose|emperor]], [[snow goose|snow]] and [[Ross's goose|Ross's]] geese) were formerly treated as a separate genus ''Chen'', but are now generally included in ''Anser'', as their exclusion would leave ''Anser'' [[paraphyly|paraphyletic]] with the [[bar-headed goose]] ''A. indicus'' being [[Basal (phylogenetics)|basal]] in the genus.<ref name="Ottenburghs16">{{Cite journal | last1=Ottenburghs | first1=J. | last2=Megens | first2=H.-J. | last3=Kraus | first3=R.H.S. | last4=Madsen | first4=O. | last5=van Hooft | first5=P. | last6=van Wieren | first6=S.E. | last7=Crooijmans | first7=R.P.M.A. | last8=Ydenberg | first8=R.C. | last9=Groenen | first9=M.A.M. | last10=Prins | first10=H.H.T. | date=2016 | title=A tree of geese: A phylogenomic perspective on the evolutionary history of True Geese | journal=Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution | volume=101 | pages=303–313 | doi=10.1016/j.ympev.2016.05.021| pmid=27233434 | bibcode=2016MolPE.101..303O | url=https://kops.uni-konstanz.de/bitstreams/eb93221e-2017-4fe2-9dda-f072a1e9ab14/download }}</ref> The closely related "black" geese in the genus ''[[Branta]]'' differ in having black legs, and generally darker body plumage.<ref name="hbw"/>

== Systematics, taxonomy and evolution == The [[genus]] ''Anser'' was introduced by the French zoologist [[Mathurin Jacques Brisson]] in 1760.<ref name="Brisson">{{cite book | last=Brisson | first=Mathurin Jacques | author-link=Mathurin Jacques Brisson | year=1760 | title=Ornithologie, ou, Méthode Contenant la Division des Oiseaux en Ordres, Sections, Genres, Especes & leurs Variétés | language=fr, la | at=[https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/36010458 Vol. 1, p. 58], [https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/36211167 Vol. 6, p. 261] | place=Paris | publisher=Jean-Baptiste Bauche }}</ref> The name comes from the Latin word ''anser'' meaning "goose"<ref name= job90>{{cite book | last= Jobling | first= James A | year= 2010| title= The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names | url= https://archive.org/details/Helm_Dictionary_of_Scientific_Bird_Names_by_James_A._Jobling | publisher = Christopher Helm | location = London | isbn = 978-1-4081-2501-4 |page =48}}</ref> used as the [[specific epithet]] for the [[greylag goose]] (''Anas anser'') introduced by [[Carl Linnaeus|Linnaeus]] in 1758, that epithet was [[tautonymy|repeated]] to become its generic name as the [[type species]].<ref>{{ cite book | editor1-last=Mayr | editor1-first=Ernst | editor1-link=Ernst Mayr | editor2-last=Cottrell | editor2-first=G. William | year=1979 | title=Check-list of Birds of the World | volume=1 | edition=2nd | publisher=Museum of Comparative Zoology | place=Cambridge, Massachusetts | page=424 | url=https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/16109074 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book | last=Linnaeus | first= Carl | author-link= Carl Linnaeus | year=1758 | title=Systema Naturæ per regna tria naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis, Volume 1| volume= 1 | edition=10th | page=123 | publisher=Holmiae:Laurentii Salvii | language = la | url= https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/727028 }}</ref>

===Phylogeny=== The evolutionary relationships between ''Anser'' geese have been difficult to resolve because of their rapid [[Evolutionary radiation|radiation]] during the [[Pleistocene]] and frequent [[Hybrid (biology)|hybridisation]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Ottenburghs|first1=Jente|last2=van Hooft|first2=Pim|last3=van Wieren|first3=Sipke E.|last4=Ydenberg|first4=Ronald C.|last5=Prins|first5=Herbert H. T.|year=2016 |title=Hybridization in geese: a review|journal=Frontiers in Zoology |volume=13|issue=1|page=20|doi=10.1186/s12983-016-0153-1|pmid=27182276|pmc=4866292| doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Ottenburghs|first1=Jente|last2=Megens|first2=Hendrik-Jan|last3=Kraus|first3=Robert H. S.|last4=van Hooft|first4=Pim|last5=van Wieren|first5=Sipke E.|last6=Crooijmans|first6=Richard P. M. A.|last7=Ydenberg|first7=Ronald C.|last8=Groenen|first8=Martien A. M.|last9=Prins|first9=Herbert H. T.| year=2017 |title=A history of hybrids? Genomic patterns of introgression in the True Geese|journal=BMC Evolutionary Biology |volume=17|issue=201 | pages=1–14 | doi=10.1186/s12862-017-1048-2|pmid=28830337|pmc=5568201| doi-access=free |bibcode=2017BMCEE..17..201O }}</ref> In 2016 Ottenburghs and colleagues published a study that established the phylogenetic relationships between the species by comparing [[exonic]] DNA sequences;<ref name="Ottenburghs16"/> a further analysis by the same group in 2023 refined the relationships in the bean goose complex, with [[pink-footed goose]] closest to [[taiga bean goose]], rather than [[tundra bean goose]] as had been thought before.<ref name="Ottenburghs23">{{cite journal | last1=Ottenburghs | first1=Jente | last2=Honka | first2=Johanna | last3=Heikkinen | first3=Marja E. | last4=Madsen | first4=Jesper | last5=Müskens | first5=Gerhard J. D. M. | last6=Ellegren | first6=Hans | title=Highly differentiated loci resolve phylogenetic relationships in the Bean Goose complex | journal=BMC Ecology and Evolution | volume=23 | issue=1 | date=2023-01-19 | issn=2730-7182 | pmid=36658479 | pmc=9854053 | doi=10.1186/s12862-023-02103-3 | doi-access=free | page=2}}</ref> {{clade|style=font-size:100%;line-height:80% |label1=''Anser'' |1={{clade |1=[[Bar-headed goose]] (''Anser indicus'') [[File:The geese of Europe and Asia (Anser indicus).jpg|60 px]] |2={{clade |1={{clade |1=[[Emperor goose]] (''Anser canagicus'') [[File:The geese of Europe and Asia (Anser canagicus).jpg|60 px]] |2={{clade |1=[[Ross's goose]] (''Anser rossii'') |2=[[Snow goose]] (''Anser caerulescens'') [[File:The geese of Europe and Asia (Anser caerulescens).jpg|60 px]] }} }} |2={{clade |1=[[Greylag goose]] (''Anser anser'') [[File:The geese of Europe and Asia (Anser anser).jpg|60 px]] |2={{clade |1=[[Swan goose]] (''Anser cygnoides'') [[File:The geese of Europe and Asia (Anser cygnoides).jpg|60 px]] |2={{clade |1={{clade |1=[[Tundra bean goose]] (''Anser serrirostris'') [[File:The geese of Europe and Asia (Anser serrirostris serrirostris).jpg|60 px]] |2={{clade |1=[[Pink-footed goose]] (''Anser brachyrhynchus'') [[File:The geese of Europe and Asia (Anser brachyrhynchus).jpg|60 px]] |2=[[Taiga bean goose]] (''Anser fabalis'') [[File:The geese of Europe and Asia (Anser fabalis).jpg|60 px]] }} }} |2={{clade |1=[[Greater white-fronted goose]] (''Anser albifrons'') [[File:The geese of Europe and Asia (Anser albifrons).jpg|60 px]] |2=[[Lesser white-fronted goose]] (''Anser erythropus'') [[File:The geese of Europe and Asia (Anser erythropus).jpg|60 px]] }} }} }} }} }} }} }}

===Species=== The genus contains 11 species:<ref name="IOU">{{cite web| editor1-last=Gill | editor1-first=Frank | editor1-link=Frank Gill (ornithologist) | editor2-last=Donsker | editor2-first=David |editor3-last=Rasmussen |editor3-first=Pamela |editor3-link=Pamela Rasmussen | year=2019 | title=Screamers, ducks, geese, swans | work=World Bird List Version 9.1 | url=https://www.worldbirdnames.org/bow/waterfowl/ | publisher=International Ornithologists' Union | access-date=2 April 2019 }}</ref> {| class="wikitable" |- ! Image !! Scientific name !! Common name!! Distribution |- |[[File:Bar-headed Goose (Anser indicus) (52767406084).jpg|120px]] || ''Anser indicus'' || [[Bar-headed goose]] || Breeds in highlands of Central Asia; winters in South Asia, Myanmar and southern China; introduced in Europe |- |<div style="{{MirrorH}}">[[File:Emperor goose on a tundra pond (53707932863).jpg|120px]]</div> || ''Anser canagicus'' || [[Emperor goose]] || Near the Pacific coast in Alaska, Russian Far East and Canada |- | [[File:Ross's Goose (Chen rossii) (23108182770).jpg|120px]] || ''Anser rossii'' || [[Ross's goose]] || Breeds in northern Canada and Alaska; winters in contiguous United States and northern Mexico |- | [[File:Snow goose in Central Park (33138).jpg|120px]] || ''Anser caerulescens'' || [[Snow goose]] || Breeds in northern Canada, Alaska and Greenland; winters in contiguous United States and northern Mexico |- |[[File:Greylag Goose - St James's Park, London - Nov 2006.jpg|120px]] || ''Anser anser'' || [[Greylag goose]] || Europe, Asia and North Africa |- |[[File:Anser cygnoides, Ozero Stepnoye, Ivolginskiy, Buryatia Republic, Russia 1 (cropped).jpg|120px]] || ''Anser cygnoides'' || [[Swan goose]] || Breeds in Mongolia, northernmost China and southeastern Russia; winters in southeastern China |- |<div style="{{MirrorH}}">[[File:Sædgås (Anser fabalis) (cropped 2).jpg|120px]]</div> || ''Anser fabalis'' || [[Taiga bean goose]] || Breeds in Russia, Finland, Norway and Sweden; winters in Europe, and Central and East Asia |- |[[File:2019-03-25 Anser brachyrhynchus, Killingworth Lake, Northumberland 2.jpg|120px]] || ''Anser brachyrhynchus'' || [[Pink-footed goose]] || Breeds in Iceland, Svalbard and Greenland; winters in northwestern Europe |- |[[File:Anser serrirostris 339618421.jpg|120px]] || ''Anser serrirostris'' || [[Tundra bean goose]] || Breeds in northern Russia; winters in Europe, and Central and East Asia |- |[[File:Greater white-fronted goose (cropped).jpg|120px]] || ''Anser albifrons'' || [[Greater white-fronted goose]] || Breeds in northern Canada, Alaska, Greenland and northern Russia; winters in contiguous United States, northern Mexico, Europe, East Asia, Iraq and near the Caspian Sea |- |<div style="{{MirrorH}}">[[File:Fjällgås, Sätunaviken, Östergötland, April 2017 small.jpg|120px]]</div> || ''Anser erythropus'' || [[Lesser white-fronted goose]] || Breeds in northern Russia, Finland, Norway and Sweden; winters in East Asia, near the Caspian Sea, and in southeastern and northwestern Europe |- |}

Some authorities also treat some [[subspecies]] as potential future species splits, notably the Greenland white-fronted goose ''A. albifrons flavirostris''.<ref name=Fox/> The three east Asian subspecies of the bean goose complex (currently treated as ''A. fabalis johanseni, A. fabalis middendorfii'', and ''A. serrirostris serrirostris'') also await genetic analysis to discern their affinities.<ref name="Ottenburghs23"/>

===Fossil record=== Numerous [[fossil]] species have been allocated to this genus. As the true geese are near-impossible to assign [[osteology|osteologically]] to genus, this must be viewed with caution. It can be assumed with limited certainty that European fossils from known inland sites belong into ''Anser''. As 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, it casts serious doubt on the correct generic assignment of the supposed North American fossil geese.<ref name=Brodkorb/><ref name=Short/><ref name=Livezey/> ''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 a unique example of a grey goose adapted for perching in trees.<ref group=lower-alpha>Short (1970) considers this bird to be somewhat reminiscent of geese and swans, [[shelduck]]s, and the ''[[Cairinini]]'' or "perching ducks".</ref><ref group=lower-alpha>The ''[[Cairinini]]'' or "perching ducks" are now known to be a [[paraphyletic]] assemblage of miscellaneous waterfowl whose [[morphology (biology)|morphological]] similarities are the product of [[convergent evolution]] towards being able to perch in trees (Livezey 1986).</ref>

*†''[[Anser atavus]]'' Fraas 1870 (Middle/Late Miocene of Bavaria, Germany) – sometimes in ''Cygnus'' *†''[[Anser arenosus]]'' Bickart 1990 (Late Miocene of Arizona, USA) *†''[[Anser arizonae]]'' Bickart 1990 (Late Miocene of Arizona, USA) *†''[[Anser cygniformis]]'' Fraas 1870 (Late Miocene of Steinheim, Germany) *†''[[Anser oeningensis]]'' (Meyer 1865) Milne-Edwards 1867b [''Anas oeningensis'' Meyer 1865] (Late Miocene of Oehningen, Switzerland) *†''[[Anser thraciensis]]'' Burchak-Abramovich & Nikolov 1984 (Late Miocene/Early Pliocene of Trojanovo, Bulgaria) *†''[[Anser pratensis]]'' (Short 1970) [''Heterochen pratensis'' Short 1970] (Early Pliocene of Nebraska, USA) *†''[[Anser pressus]]'' (Brodkorb 1964) [''Chen pressa'' Brodkorb 1964] (Dwarf Snow goose) (Late Pliocene of Idaho, USA) *†''[[Anser thompsoni]]'' Martin & Mengel 1980 (Pliocene of Nebraska, USA) *†''[[Anser azerbaidzhanicus]]'' Serebrovsky 1940 (Early? Pleistocene of Binagady, Azerbaijan) *†''[[Anser devjatkini]]'' Kuročkin 1971 (Pliocene of Mongolia) *†''[[Anser eldaricus]]'' Burchak-Abramovich & Gadzyev 1978 (Miocene of [[Georgia (country)|Georgia]]) *†''[[Anser tchikoicus]]'' Kuročkin 1985 (Pliocene of central Asia) *†''[[Anser djuktaiensis]]'' Zelenkov & Kurochkin 2014 (Late Pleistocene of Yakutia, Russia) *†''Anser subanser'' Janossy 1982 (Pleistocene of Europe)

The [[Malta|Maltese]] swan ''[[Cygnus equitum]]'' was occasionally placed into ''Anser'', and ''Anser condoni'' is a synonym of ''[[Cygnus paloregonus]]''.<ref name=Brodkorb/> A goose fossil from the early-middle Pleistocene of [[El Salvador]] is highly similar to ''Anser'';<ref name=Cisneros/> given its age it is likely to belong to an extant genus, though [[biogeography]] indicates ''Branta'' as another potential candidate.

''Anser scaldii'' Beneden 1872 nomen nudum (Late Miocene of Antwerp, Belgium), based on a right humerus, was reassigned to the modern [[Brent goose]] and suggested to be reworked from later Pleistocene or [[Holocene]] deposits.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Worthy|first1=Trevor H. |last2=Olson|first2=Storrs L. |last3=Smith|first3=Thierry|year=2008|title=A reassessment of the fossil goose ''Anser scaldii'' Lambrecht 1933 (Aves: Anatidae)|journal=Bulletin of the British Ornithologists' Club|volume=128|issue=4|pages= 228–232|url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/part/151201}}</ref>

==Relationship with humans and conservation status== Two species in the genus are of major commercial importance, having been domesticated as [[poultry]]: European [[domesticated goose|domesticated geese]] are derived from the [[greylag goose]], and Chinese and some African domesticated geese are derived from the [[swan goose]].

Most species are hunted to a greater or lesser extent; in some areas, some populations are threatened by over-hunting and habitat loss. Although most species are not considered threatened by the [[IUCN]], the [[lesser white-fronted goose]] and [[swan goose]] are listed as [[Vulnerable species|Vulnerable]] and the [[emperor goose]] is [[near-threatened]].<ref name="IUCN Acygnoid"/><ref name="IUCN Aerythropus"/><ref name="IUCN Acanagicus"/>

Other species have benefited from reductions in hunting since the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with most species in western Europe and North America showing marked increases in response to protection{{Citation needed|date=June 2008}}. In some cases, this has led to conflicts with farming, when large flocks of geese graze crops in the winter.{{Citation needed|date=June 2008}}

==See also== * [[List of recently extinct birds]] * [[Late Quaternary prehistoric birds]] * [[List of fossil bird genera]]

==Notes== {{Notelist}}

==References== <references> <ref name="Brodkorb">{{cite journal|author=Brodkorb, Pierce |year=1964|title= Catalogue of Fossil Birds: Part 2 (Anseriformes through Galliformes)|journal=Bulletin of the Florida State Museum|volume=8|issue=3|pages= 195–335|url=http://ufdc.ufl.edu/UF00001511/}}</ref> <ref name="hbw">{{cite book | last=Carboneras | first=Carles | year=1992 | chapter=Family Anatidae (Ducks, Geese and Swans) | editor1-last=del Hoyo | editor1-first=J. | editor2-last=Elliott | editor2-first=A. | editor3-last=Sargatal | editor3-first=J. | title=Handbook of the Birds of the World | volume=1: Ostrich to Ducks | location=Barcelona, Spain | publisher=Lynx Edicions | isbn=84-87334-10-5 | pages=536–628 | chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/handbookofbirdso0001unse/page/536/mode/1up | chapter-url-access=registration}}</ref> <ref name="Cisneros">A left [[humerus]] (specimen [[Museo de Historia Natural de El Salvador|MUHNES]] 2SSAP30-853) and a left [[clavicle]] (specimen MUHNES 2SSAP30-545), apparently of a single bird: {{cite journal|author=Cisneros, Juan Carlos |year=2005|title= New Pleistocene vertebrate fauna from El Salvador|journal=Revista Brasileira de Paleontologia|volume=8|issue=3|pages= 239–255|doi=10.4072/rbp.2005.3.09 |doi-access=free|bibcode=2005RvBrP...8..239C }}</ref> <ref name="Fox">{{cite journal|author1=Fox, A.D. |author2=Stroud, D.A. |year=2002|title= Greenland White-fronted Goose|journal=Birds of the Western Palearctic Update|volume=4|issue=2|pages= 65–88}}</ref> <ref name="IUCN Acygnoid">{{cite iucn | author = BirdLife International | title = ''Anser cygnoid'' | volume= 2016| article-number = e.T22679869A92832782 | year = 2016| doi = 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22679869A92832782.en}}</ref> <ref name="IUCN Aerythropus">{{cite iucn | author = BirdLife International | title = ''Anser erythropus'' | volume= 2018| article-number = e.T22679886A132300164 | year = 2018| doi = 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2018-2.RLTS.T22679886A132300164.en}}</ref> <ref name="IUCN Acanagicus">{{cite iucn | author = BirdLife International | title = ''Anser canagicus'' | volume= 2016| article-number = e.T22679919A92834737 | year = 2016| doi = 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22679919A92834737.en}}</ref> <ref name="Livezey">{{cite journal|author=Livezey, Bradley C. |year=1986|title= A phylogenetic analysis of recent anseriform genera using morphological characters|journal=[[Auk (journal)|Auk]]|volume=103|issue=4|pages= 737–754|url=http://sora.unm.edu/sites/default/files/journals/auk/v103n04/p0737-p0754.pdf|doi=10.1093/auk/103.4.737}}</ref> <ref name="Short">{{cite journal|author=Short, Lester L. |year=1970|title= A new anseriform genus and species from the Nebraska Pliocene|journal=[[Auk (journal)|Auk]]|volume=87|issue=3|pages= 537–543|url=http://sora.unm.edu/sites/default/files/journals/auk/v087n03/p0537-p0543.pdf|doi=10.2307/4083796|jstor=4083796}}</ref> </references>

{{DEFAULTSORT:Anser (Genus)}} [[Category:Anser (bird)| ]] [[Category:Geese]] [[Category:Bird genera]] [[Category:Taxa named by Mathurin Jacques Brisson]]