Date of Award:
5-1967
Document Type:
Dissertation
Degree Name:
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Department:
Wildland Resources
Department name when degree awarded
Wildlife Biology
Committee Chair(s)
Jessop B. Low
Committee
Jessop B. Low
Committee
Frederic H. Wagner
Committee
William T. Helm
Committee
Keith L. Dixon
Committee
Arthur H. Holmgren
Abstract
The black-bellied tree duck (Dendracygna autumnalis) is one of eight tree ducks (whistling ducks) in the genus Dendracygna. This group shares enough characteristics--reticulated tarsus and symmetrical syrinx structure, among others--with the swans and geese to warrant a common subfamily, Anserinae of the waterfowl family Anatidae. DeIacour and Mayr (1945) make a tribal distinction, however, between the tree ducks (Dendracygnini) and the swans and geese (Anserini) based, in part, an differences in size, vertebrae number, and downy plumage. These same authors remark that the tree ducks are the least known of the waterfowl largely because there are no life history studies for any of the species. Of the two species found in the continental United States, the fulvous (D. bicolor) and black-bellied tree ducks, the ecology of the last named seemed singularly unknown.
Checksum
4eb3d12b26c1689d4cf8db4ba6eeed18
Recommended Citation
Bolen, Eric George, "The Ecology of the Black-Bellied Tree Duck in Southern Texas" (1967). All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023. 4506.
https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/etd/4506
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