Anhingidae
| Darter (bird) Temporal range: Early Miocene – Recent 18–0 Ma |
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| Male African darter Anhinga (melanogaster) rufa |
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| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Suliformes |
| Family: |
Anhingidae Reichenbach, 1849 |
| Genus: |
Anhinga Brisson, 1760 |
| Type species | |
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Plotus anhinga Linnaeus, 1766 |
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| Species | |
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Anhinga anhinga |
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| The world distribution of the Anhingidae family. | |
| Synonyms | |
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Family-level: Genus-level: |
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Anhinga anhinga
Anhinga melanogaster
Anhinga rufa
Anhinga novaehollandiae
(but see text)
Family-level:
Anhinginae Ridgway, 1887
Plotidae
Plottidae
Plotinae Rafinesque, 1815
Plottinae
PtynginaePoche, 1904
Genus-level:
Plottus Scopoli, 1777 (unjustified emendation)
Plotus Linnaeus 1766
PtinxBonaparte, 1828
Ptynx Möhring 1752 (pre-Linnean)
The darters or snakebirds are mainly tropical waterbirds in the family Anhingidae having 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 for little clearly apparent reason; 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.
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Wikipedia