#malacorhynchus

Pink-eared Duck (Malacorhynchus membranaceus), family Anatidae, order Anseriformes, found in disconnected regions of Australia

By José Carlos Cortés on @quetzalcuetzpalin-art​

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Name: Malacorhynchus membranaceus, M. scarletti 

Status: Extant 

First Described: 1801 

Described By: Latham

Classification: Dinosauria, Saurischia, Eusaurischia, Theropoda, Neotheropoda, Averostra, Tetanurae, Orionides, Avetheropoda, Coelurosauria, Tyrannoraptora, Maniraptoriformes, Maniraptora, Pennaraptora, Paraves, Eumaniraptora, Averaptora, Avialae, Euavialae, Avebrevicauda, Pygostylia, Ornithothoraces, Euornithes, Ornithuromorpha, Ornithurae, Neornithes, Neognathae, Galloanserae, Anseriformes, Anseres, Anatoidea, Anatidae, Anatinae 

We have a living duck today! Well, half-alive. Malacorhynchus is a genus of very distinctive ducks that contains one living species and one extinct species. These ducks hail from Australia and New Zealand, and have distinctive long, splayed out bills. M. scarletti, the Scarlett’s Duck, resembled the living Pink-Eared Duck extensively, except for the fact that it was twice as heavy as its living relative. It was a nomadic and territorial bird, spread out throughout New Zealand with few individuals found fossilized together. This is distinctly different from its living relative, who lives in very large flocks. It was a filter feeder, and lived between 12,000 and 500 years ago, driven extinct by human hunting. 

Pink-Eared Duck by Aviceda, CC BY-SA 3.0 

M. membranaceus, the living Pink-Eared Duck, lives in Australia and is thankfully not threatened with extinction. They are distinctive for their spatula bills used in filter feeding, and named for the little spot of pinkish feathers by their eyes that lead to their name. However, it is not very visible unless you are close up, so this bird is also called the Zebra Duck. They are similar in appearance to the Australasian Shoveler, due to the bill, but they have smaller bills at about 38 to 40 centimeters long. 

Pink-Eared Duck by Jason Girvan, CC BY-SA 3.0 

These birds form flocks in the thousands of individuals, and are very mobile, living throughout Australia wherever standing water can be found. They feed mainly on plankton, crustaceans, mollusks, and insects that they filter through the water with their bills, using flaps to channel water through and filter out the food they want to eat. It is interesting in being the only Anseriform - so, duck - to have caratenoids in its feathers, leading to the pink ear spot in its feathers. They breed when pools dry and then fill up again, increasing the amount of plant material in the pools, and the birds will congregate in huge numbers to breed in shallow flood plains, conditions permitting. 

Sources: 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scarlett%27s_duck 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malacorhynchus