Mergus fossil map
Where fossils of Mergus have been found, shown on the Earth as it looked about 0 million years ago and on today’s map.
Dots are fossil collections recorded in the Paleobiology Database. The “then” view moves today’s fossil sites back to their positions 0 million years ago (the time slice nearest the median age of the fossils) using the Merdith et al. (2021) plate model; positions are approximate. Open on the timeline map →
| Group | Prehistoric birds |
|---|---|
| Lived | 15.98 million years ago to the present (Langhian to Holocene) |
| Periods | Neogene, Quaternary |
| Family | Anatidae |
| Named by | Linnaeus 1758 |
| Fossil records | 55 occurrences at 39 locations (PBDB) |
| Found in | United States, New Zealand, Egypt, United Kingdom, Åland Islands, Spain, Slovakia, Hungary, Russia, Estonia … |
| Rock formations | txn:39624, Gabal Silsila, Hillgrove, Calvert, Gebel Silsila-YCS, Yorktown |
About Mergus
Mergus is the genus containing the typical mergansers ( mur-GAN-sərz), fish-eating ducks in the subfamily Anatinae.
The common merganser or goosander (Mergus merganser) and red-breasted merganser (M. serrator) have broad ranges in the northern hemisphere. The Brazilian merganser (M. octosetaceus) is a South American duck, and one of the six most threatened waterfowl in the world, with possibly fewer than 250 birds in the wild. The scaly-sided merganser or "Chinese merganser" (M. squamatus) is also an endangered species; it lives in temperate eastern Asia, breeding in the northeast and wintering further south.
The hooded merganser (Lophodytes cucullatus, formerly known as Mergus cucullatus) is not currently included in this genus but is closely related, and may be embedded within it. The other "aberrant" merganser, the smew (Mergellus albellus), previously thought to be closer to goldeneyes (Bucephala) due to the occurrence of natural hybrids, is now known to be basal to all the other mergansers from genetic analysis.
Text in “About” is quoted from the Wikipedia article Mergus (revision 1380388046), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0; introduction excerpted verbatim, formatting removed. Ages, family, authority and fossil records: Paleobiology Database, accessed 23 October 2026. Ages are those of the rock layers the fossils were found in. Wikidata: Q253789.
