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Class Aves
Order Anseriformes
Family Anatidae

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Lophodytes cucullatus—Hooded Merganser // Mergus merganser—Common Merganser // Mergus serrator—Red-breasted Merganser // Oxyura sp.—Ruddy Ducks // Oxyura bessomi—Bessom's Ruddy Duck // Oxyura jamaicensis—Ruddy duck

Lophodytes cucullatus (Linnaeus 1758)—Hooded MerganserRegional Pleistocene distribution of Lophodytes cucullatus

Hooded Merganser, USFWS photograph by Jim Rorabaugh Mergansers are primarily fish-eating divers.

Fig. 1. Hooded Merganser, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service photograph by Jim Rorabaugh.

Sites.

Late Wisconsin: Sandia Cave (Brasso and Emslie 2006).

Late Wisconsin/Holocene: Stanton's Cave (Rea and Hargrave 1984).

Literature. Brasso and Emslie 2006; Ligon 1961; Rea and Hargrave 1984.

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Mergus merganser Linnaeus 1758—Common MerganserRegional Pleistocene distribution of Mergus merganser

Feeding primarily on fish, mergansers imply bodies of water of some size and depth. The Pecos River or associated oxbows are almost certainly the source of the Dark Canyon Cave specimens.

Howard (1971) recorded Mergus ? sp. from Dark Canyon Cave. Since then, a posterior skull has been recovered by UTEP from that site that compares closely with M. merganser. However, insufficient comparative material is available at UTEP for conclusive assignment to species.

Sites.

Rancholabrean: Tule Springs Stein (Jefferson et al. 2015).

Irvingtonian/Rancholabrean: Manix Lake (Jefferson 1991a: cf.).

Mid/Late Wisconsin: Dark Canyon Cave (Howard 1971: ?); UTEP (cf.).

Late Wisconsin/Holocene: Stanton's Cave (Rea and Hargrave 1984).

Literature. Howard 1971; Jefferson 1991a; Jefferson et al. 2015; Rea and Hargrave 1984; Springer et al. 2005.

Skull of Common Mrganser and posterior cranium of a fossil merganser

Fig. 1. Skull of Mergus merganser (bottom) and posterior skull of UTEP 75-362 from Dark Canyon Cave, Eddy Co., NM. Scale in mm.

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Mergus serrator Linnaeus 1758—Red-breasted MerganserRegional Pleistocene distribution of Mergus serrator

Sites.

Mid/Late Wisconsin: San Miguel Island (Guthrie 1998).

Literature. Guthrie 1998.

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Oxyura sp.—Ruddy DucksRegional Pleistocene distribution of Oxyurus sp.

Sites.

Late Wisconsin: China Lake (Jefferson 1991a).

Literature. Jefferson 1991a.

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Oxyura bessomi Howard 1963—Bessom's Ruddy Duck = Anas sp.Regional Pleistocene distribution of Oxyurus bessomi

Discussion: Howard (1963) described Oxyura bessomi on the basis of a carpometacarpus and referred ulna and coracoids. Guthrie (2010) found the carpometacarpus to differ from that of Oxyura, but to be similar to small-sized species of the genus Anas and thus leaving O. jamaicensis as the sole species of Oxyura known from the fossil record.

Sites.

Late Blancan/Irvingtonian: Vallecito Creek, Anza-Borrego Desert (Howard 1963).

Literature. Guthrie 2010; Howard 1963.

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Oxyura jamaicensis (Gmelin 1789)—Ruddy DuckRegional Pleistocene distribution of Oxyurus jamaicensis

Sites.

Late Pleistocene: Rancho del Oro (Jefferson 2014).

Late Wisconsin/Holocene: Stanton's Cave (Rea and Hargrave 1984).

Literature. Rea and Hargrave 1984.

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Last Update: 27 May 2015