Coscoroba Swan

About the Coscoroba Swan

The coscoroba swan (Coscoroba coscoroba) is a species of waterfowl in the subfamily Anserinae of the family Anatidae. It is found in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay, Uruguay, and the Falkland Islands. It is one of South America's largest species of waterfowl.

The coscoroba swan's placement within the family Anatidae is not fully agreed upon, with a 2014 genetic study positing a phylogenetic relationship between this species and the Cape Barren goose (Cereopsis novaehollandiae). BirdLife International's Handbook of the Birds of the World has adopted this approach and puts the coscoroba swan and Cape Barren goose together in the tribe Cereopsini, which it places as basal to Cygnus and all other geese. However, the South American Classification Committee of the American Ornithological Society, the International Ornithological Committee (IOC), and the Clements taxonomy treat the Cape Barren goose as basal to other geese, which themselves precede the coscoroba and other swans in a linear sequence. Even those three systems differ, with the IOC placing the coscoroba before Cygnus and the other two after it in their lists.

The coscoroba swan is the... Wikipedia →