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The word duck comes from Old English dūce 'diver', a derivative of the verb *dūcan 'to duck, bend down low as if to get under something, or dive', because of the way many species in the dabbling duck group feed by upending; compare with Dutch duiken and German tauchen 'to dive'.
The mallard (/ ˈ m æ l ɑːr d, ˈ m æ l ər d /) or wild duck (Anas platyrhynchos) is a dabbling duck that breeds throughout the temperate and subtropical Americas, Eurasia, and North Africa. It has been introduced to New Zealand , Australia , Peru , Brazil , Uruguay , Argentina , Chile , Colombia , the Falkland Islands , and South Africa .
A form of asexual reproduction related to parthenogenesis is gynogenesis. Here, offspring are produced by the same mechanism as in parthenogenesis, but with the requirement that the egg merely be stimulated by the presence of sperm in order to develop. However, the sperm cell does not contribute any genetic material to the offspring.
Parthenogenesis is a mode of asexual reproduction in which offspring are produced by females without the genetic contribution of a male. Among all the sexual vertebrates, the only examples of true parthenogenesis, in which all-female populations reproduce without the involvement of males, are found in squamate reptiles (snakes and lizards). [1]
A few are kept for show, or for their ornamental value. Most varieties of domesticated ducks, apart from the Muscovy duck and hybrids, are descended from the mallard, which was domesticated in China around 2000 BC. Duck farming is simplified by their reliable flocking behaviour, and their ability to forage effectively for themselves. Over 80% ...
[77] [154] Divers, diving ducks, penguins and auks pursue their prey underwater, using their wings or feet for propulsion, [68] while aerial predators such as sulids, kingfishers and terns plunge dive after their prey. Flamingos, three species of prion, and some ducks are filter feeders. [155] [156] Geese and dabbling ducks are primarily ...
American Pekins and other domestic ducks are most commonly used to breed mulards due to the breed's high meat production. Like many interspecific F1 hybrids, mulards are sterile, giving them the nickname mule ducks. While it is possible to produce mulards naturally, artificial insemination is used more often with greater success. [1]
The ZW sex-determination system is a chromosomal system that determines the sex of offspring in birds, some fish and crustaceans such as the giant river prawn, some insects (including butterflies and moths), the schistosome family of flatworms, and some reptiles, e.g. majority of snakes, lacertid lizards and monitors, including Komodo dragons.