suborder Anseres
- noun
- /ˈsʌbˌɔrdər ˈænˌsɪriz/
- Archaic
:
suborden Anseres
- The suborder Anseres includes well-known birds such as ducks, geese, and swans.
Examples
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The suborder Anseres was once used to classify all true waterfowl.
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Many species now in Anatidae were historically grouped under the suborder Anseres.
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Taxonomists have revised the classification, making suborder Anseres largely obsolete.
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The suborder Anseres includes various species of waterfowl.
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Did you know that the suborder Anseres is primarily aquatic?
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Birds classified under the suborder Anseres are commonly found in wetlands and water bodies.
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Taxonomists once referred to all aquatic birds as members of the suborder Anseres.
Synonyms
A group of birds like ducks, geese, and swans used in older biology books
A family of birds that swim, like swans, geese, and ducks
A group of water birds like ducks and swans with webbed feet and flat bills
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase is a straightforward taxonomic label: combining 'suborder' (a rank below an order) with 'Anseres' (the bird order containing ducks and geese) yields the meaning 'a suborder within the order Anseres.' This is a compositional, domain-specific naming pattern common across languages, so a learner who knows both constituents can infer the meaning.
Etymology
Suborder Anseres comes from the Latin root anser, which means 'goose', because the name was used to group water birds. So, it once named the group of ducks, geese and swans and today is an old classification.
