Darter

Darter
Temporal range: Early Miocene – Recent
18–0 Ma
Male African darter
Anhinga rufa
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Suliformes
Family: Anhingidae
Reichenbach, 1849[1]
Genus: Anhinga
Brisson, 1760
Type species
Plotus anhinga
Linnaeus, 1766
Species

Anhinga anhinga
Anhinga melanogaster
Anhinga rufa
Anhinga novaehollandiae
(but see text)

World distribution of the family Anhingidae
Synonyms

Family-level:
Anhinginae Ridgway, 1887
Plotidae
Plottidae
Plotinae Rafinesque, 1815
Plottinae
Ptynginae[verification needed] Poche, 1904


Genus-level:
Plottus Scopoli, 1777 (unjustified emendation)
Plotus Linnaeus 1766
Ptinx[verification needed] Bonaparte, 1828
Ptynx Möhring 1752 (pre-Linnean)

The darters, anhingas, or snakebirds are mainly tropical waterbirds in the family Anhingidae, which contains a single genus, Anhinga. There are four living species, three of which are very common and widespread while the fourth is rarer and classified as near-threatened by the IUCN. The term snakebird is usually used without any additions to signify whichever of the completely allopatric species occurs in any one region. It refers to their long thin neck, which has a snake-like appearance when they swim with their bodies submerged, or when mated pairs twist it during their bonding displays. "Darter" is used with a geographical term when referring to particular species. It alludes to their manner of procuring food, as they impale fishes with their thin, pointed beak. The American darter (A. anhinga) is more commonly known as the anhinga. It is sometimes called "water turkey" in the southern United States; though the anhinga is quite unrelated to the wild turkey, they are both large, blackish birds with long tails that are sometimes hunted for food.[2]

  1. ^ Walter J. Bock (1994): History and Nomenclature of Avian Family-Group Names. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History, number 222; with application of article 36 of ICZN.
  2. ^ Answers.com [2009], BLI (2009), Myers et al. [2009]