Barnacle goose Barnacle goose The barnacle goose ("Branta leucopsis") belongs to the genus "Branta" of black geese, which contains species with largely black plumage, distinguishing them from the grey "Anser" species. Despite its superficial similarity to the brant goose, genetic analysis has shown it is an eastern derivative of the cackling goose lineage. The barnacle goose was first classified taxonomically by Johann Matthäus Bechstein in 1803. "Branta" is a Latinised form of Old Norse "Brandgás", "burnt (black) goose" and the specific epithet is from the Ancient Greek "leukos" "white", and "opsis" "faced". The barnacle goose and the similar brant goose were previously
Pygmy goose end of a tarsometatarsus. It is only record of the genus in the New World. The genus "Nettapus" was erected by the German naturalist Johann Friedrich von Brandt in 1836. The word "Nettapus" is from the Ancient Greek "nētta" "duck" and "pous" "foot". It was thought that the type species, the African pygmy goose ("Nettapus auritus"), possessed the feet and body of a duck and the neck of a goose. There are three extant species in the genus: Pygmy geese have short bills, rounded heads and short legs. They nest in tree holes. Pygmy goose The pygmy geese are a