Spatula is a genus or subgenus of ducks in the family Anatidae that includes the shovelers, garganey, and several species of American teals.
The species now placed in this genus were formerly placed in the genus Anas. A molecular phylogenetic study comparing mitochondrial DNA sequences published in 2009 found that the genus Anas, as then defined, was non-monophyletic.[1] Based on this published phylogeny, the genus Anas was split into four monophyletic genera with 10 species moved into the resurrected genus Spatula.[2]
The genus Spatula had originally been proposed by the German zoologist Friedrich Boie in 1822. The type species is the northern shoveler.[3] [4] The name Spatula is the Latin word for "spoon", from which the English word "spatula" also originates.[5]
The genus contains 10 species:[2]
| Image | Scientific name | Common name | Distribution |
|---|---|---|---|
| S. querquedula | Europe and western Asia | ||
| S. hottentota | eastern and southern Africa, from Sudan and Ethiopia west to Niger and Nigeria and south to South Africa and Namibia | ||
| S. puna | the Andes of Peru, western Bolivia, northern Chile and extreme northwestern Argentina | ||
| S. versicolor | southern Bolivia, southern Brazil, Paraguay, Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, South Georgia, the South Sandwich Islands and the Falkland Islands | ||
| S. platalea | Tierra del Fuego northwards to Chile and most parts of Argentina, as well as the Falkland Islands and small isolated breeding populations in southern Peru | ||
| S. cyanoptera | South America, western United States and extreme southwestern Canada; a rare visitor to the East Coast of the United States | ||
| S. discors | North America, where it breeds from southern Alaska to Nova Scotia and south to northern Texas | ||
| S. smithii | South Africa, uncommon further north in Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, southern Angola, Lesotho, Mozambique and Zambia | ||
| S. rhynchotis | Australia, Tasmania and New Zealand | ||
| S. clypeata | northern areas of Europe and Asia and across most of North America | ||
Cladogram based on the analysis of Gonzalez and colleagues published in 2009.[1]