'If It Walks Like A Duck...': Exploring the Early Evolution of Duck-Like Birds

Please enjoy this episode examining the early evolution of Anseriformes, the group of modern birds that includes the ducks, geese and screamers. Originating during the Late Cretaceous, these animals survived the K-PG extinction event and radiated widely during the Cenozoic. Thumbnail art by Andrew McAfee https://www.patreon.com/c/DrPolaris?vanity=user Sources used for this video: Cenizo, M.M.; Agnolín, F.L. (2010). "The southernmost records of Anhingidae and a new basal species of Anatidae (Aves) from the lower–middle Miocene of Patagonia, Argentina". Alcheringa. 34 (4): 493–514. doi:10.1080/03115511003793504. Crane, A.; Benito, J.; Chen, A.; Musser, G.; Torres, C. R.; Clarke, J. A.; Lautenschlager, S.; Ksepka, D. T.; Field, D. J. (2025). "Taphonomic damage obfuscates interpretation of the retroarticular region of the Asteriornis mandible". Geobios. 90: 31–43. Bibcode:2025Geobi..90...31C. doi:10.1016/j.geobios.2024.03.003. Vanesa L. De Pietri; R. Paul Scofield; Nikita Zelenkov; Walter E. Boles; Trevor H. Worthy (2016). "The unexpected survival of an ancient lineage of anseriform birds into the Neogene of Australia: the youngest record of Presbyornithidae". Royal Society Open Science. 3 (2) 150635. Bibcode:2016RSOS....350635D. doi:10.1098/rsos.150635. PMC 4785986. PMID 26998335. Ericson, Per G.P. (2000-09-25). "Systematic revision, skeletal anatomy, and paleoecology of the New World early Tertiary Presbyornithidae (Aves: Anseriformes)" (PDF). PaleoBios. 20 (2): 1–23. Field, Daniel J.; Benito, Juan; Chen, Albert; Jagt, John W. M.; Ksepka, Daniel T. (March 2020). "Late Cretaceous neornithine from Europe illuminates the origins of crown birds". Nature. 579 (7799): 397–401. Bibcode:2020Natur.579..397F. doi:10.1038/s41586-020-2096-0. ISSN 0028-0836. PMID 32188952. S2CID 212937591. Field, Daniel J.; Benito, Juan; Werning, Sarah; Chen, Albert; Kuo, Pei-Chen; Crane, Abi; Widrig, Klara E.; Ksepka, Daniel T.; Jagt, John W.M. (2024). "Remarkable insights into modern bird origins from the Maastrichtian type area (north-east Belgium, south-east Netherlands)". Netherlands Journal of Geosciences. 103 e15. Bibcode:2024NJGeo.103E..15F. doi:10.1017/njg.2024.11. Géraldine Garcia; Cécile Mourer-Chauviré; Mohammed Adaci; Mustapha Bensalah; Fateh Mebrouk; Xavier Valentin; M'hammed Mahboubi; Rodolphe Tabuce (2020). "First discovery of avian egg and bone remains (Presbyornithidae) from the Gour Lazib (Eocene, Algeria)" (PDF). Journal of African Earth Sciences. 162 103666. Bibcode:2020JAfES.16203666G. doi:10.1016/j.jafrearsci.2019.103666. S2CID 210607715. Houde, Peter; Dickson, Meig; Camarena, Dakota (February 2023). "Basal Anseriformes from the Early Paleogene of North America and Europe". Diversity. 15 (2): 233. Bibcode:2023Diver..15..233H. doi:10.3390/d15020233. ISSN 1424-2818. Irazoqui, Facundo; Acosta Hospitaleche, Carolina; Paulina-Carabajal, Ariana; Bona, Paula; Vega, Nahuel (January 30, 2026). "New species of Vegavis (Neornithes) from Antarctica highlights unexpected Cretaceous Antarctic diversity". Diversity. 18 (2): 82. doi:10.3390/d18020082. ISSN 1424-2818. Ksepka, Daniel T.; Stidham, Thomas A.; Williamson, Thomas E. (2017-07-10). "Early Paleocene landbird supports rapid phylogenetic and morphological diversification of crown birds after the K–Pg mass extinction". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 114 (30): 8047–8052. Bibcode:2017PNAS..114.8047K. doi:10.1073/pnas.1700188114. ISSN 0027-8424. PMC 5544281. PMID 28696285. Tambussi, Claudia P.; Degrange, Federico J.; De Mendoza, Ricardo S.; Sferco, Emilia; Santillana, Sergrio (2019). "A stem anseriform from the early Palaeocene of Antarctica provides new key evidence in the early evolution of waterfowl". Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. 186 (3): 673–700. doi:10.1093/zoolinnean/zly085. hdl:11336/109831. Torres, Christopher R.; Clarke, Julia A.; Groenke, Joseph R.; Lamanna, Matthew C.; MacPhee, Ross D. E.; Musser, Grace M.; Roberts, Eric M.; O'Connor, Patrick M. (2025). "Cretaceous Antarctic bird skull elucidates early avian ecological diversity". Nature. 638 (8049): 146–151. doi:10.1038/s41586-024-08390-0. ISSN 1476-4687. Zelenkov, N.V. (2019). "A swan-sized anseriform bird from the late Paleocene of Mongolia". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 38 (6) e1531879. doi:10.1080/02724634.2018.1531879.