Barnacle goose were of the same nature as other birds. The question of the nature of barnacle geese also came up as a matter of Jewish dietary law in the Halakha, and Rabbeinu Tam (1100–71) determined that they were kosher (even if born of trees) and should be slaughtered following the normal prescriptions for birds. The mythical barnacle tree, believed in the Middle Ages to have barnacles that opened to reveal geese, may have a similar origin to the other legends already mentioned. Barnacle goose The barnacle goose ("Branta leucopsis") belongs to the genus "Branta" of black geese, which contains species with
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