Darter

Darter; Temporal range: Early Miocene – Recent; 18–0 Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
	Male African darter; Anhinga rufa
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Suliformes
Family:	Anhingidae; Reichenbach, 1849
Genus:	Anhinga; Brisson, 1760
Type species
	Plotus anhinga; Linnaeus, 1766
Species
	Anhinga anhinga; Anhinga melanogaster; Anhinga rufa; Anhinga novaehollandiae; (but see text)
	World distribution of the family Anhingidae
Synonyms
	Family-level:; Anhinginae Ridgway, 1887; Plotidae; Plottidae; Plotinae Rafinesque, 1815; Plottinae ; Ptynginae[verification needed] Poche, 1904 Genus-level:; Plottus Scopoli, 1777 (unjustified emendation); Plotus Linnaeus 1766; Ptinx[verification needed] Bonaparte, 1828; Ptynx Möhring 1752 (pre-Linnean)

The darters, anhingas, or snakebirds is a family of aquatic birds which resemble pelicans. They mainly occur in the tropics.

There are four living species. Three of the species are common, the fourth is rarer, and listed as near-threatened by the IUCN.

The term snakebird is used for any of these species: They have a long thin neck. When they swim, only the head and neck are visible. This looks like a snake. Darter is a term that refers to they way these birds catch fish: They impale the fish with their beak. The American darter is sometimes called anhinga. Sometimes it is called water turkey, even though it is unrelated to the turkey.

References

↑ Walter J. Bock (1994): History and Nomenclature of Avian Family-Group Names. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History, number 222; with application of article 36 of ICZN.

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[1] Walter J. Bock (1994): History and Nomenclature of Avian Family-Group Names. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History, number 222; with application of article 36 of ICZN.

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