Lesser Whistling-Duck

SCI Name:  Dendrocygna javanica
Protonym:  Anas Javanica Trans.Linn.Soc.London(1), 13 p.199
Taxonomy:  Anseriformes / Anatidae / Dendrocygna
Taxonomy Code:  lewduc1
Type Locality:  Java.
Author:  Horsfield
Publish Year:  1821
IUCN Status:  Least Concern

DEFINITIONS

DENDROCYGNA
(Anatidae; Ϯ Wandering Whistling Duck D. arcuata) Gr. δενδρον dendron  tree; L. cygnus or cycnus  swan   < Gr. κυκνος kuknos  swan (cf. genus Cygnus Bechstein, 1803, swan); ""Dendrocygna" est vox hybrida; nomen enim græcum κυκνος, literis latinis scriptum, fit cycnus. Cygnus est nomen latinum." (Sundevall 1873);  "DENDROCYGNA, Sw. Tree Ducks.  Bill resembling that of a duck. Nostrils near the base. Feet lengthened. The toes long, and projecting beyond the membrane. Claws long, slender, and but slightly curved. Hind toe lengthened.  D. arcuata. Horsf. Java. (fig. 325.)   arborea. Edw. pl. 193" (Swainson 1837); "Dendrocygna Swainson, Classif. Bds., 2, 1837, p. 365. Type, by subsequent designation, Anas arcuata Horsfield. (Eyton, Monogr. Anat., 1838, p. 28.)" (Peters, 1931, I, p. 152).
Var. Dendrocygnus, Dendrocycna.
Synon. Ctenanas, Dendronessa, Lamprocygna, Leptotarsis, Nesocygna, Prosopocygna, Stagonocygna.

javaensis / javana / javanense / javanensis / javanica
Java, Dutch East Indies / Indonesia.  The origins of the island name (Jawa in Indonesian) are obscure  ?< Malay Jewa  millet  < Sanskrit Yava  barley.
● ex “Javan Partridge” of Brown 1776, and Latham 1783 (Arborophila).
● ex “Martin-Pêcheur de Java” of d’Aubenton 1765-1781, pl. 757 (subsp. Pelargopsis capensis).
● Erroneous TL. Java (= Australia); ex “Tourterelle de Java” of d’Aubenton 1765-1781, pl. 177, “Turvert” of de Buffon 1770-1786, and “Javan Turtle” of Latham 1783 (syn. Chalcophaps chrysochlora).