Sl. Olson et P. Jouventin, A NEW SPECIES OF SMALL FLIGHTLESS DUCK FROM AMSTERDAM ISLAND, SOUTHERN INDIAN-OCEAN (ANATIDAE, ANAS), The Condor, 98(1), 1996, pp. 1-9
The islands of Amsterdam and St. Paul each appear to have been inhabit
ed by endemic populations of ducks that were exterminated by humans or
human-introduced mammals in the past two hundred years. The duck from
St. Paul is known only from a historical account in 1793. Abundant bo
ne remains of a duck from Amsterdam Island are described as a new spec
ies, Anas marecula. This was a small, teal-sized species with very red
uced wings and pectoral girdle, so that it was certainly flightless. T
he short, pointed bill suggests a possible derivation of the species f
rom an ancestor related to the widgeons formerly segregated in the gen
us Mareca.