Anas platyrhynchos
Linnaeus, 1758 · speciesAt a glance
Sources14 archives
Databases and archives Anas platyrhynchos's data was compiled from.
WikipediaWikimedia Foundation21 languages↗
Animal Diversity WebUniv. of Michigan MZspecies account↗
BioWikiNetmultilingual Wikipediamultilingual↗
GBIFGlobal Biodiversity Information Facility27 830 246 records↗
OBISOcean Biodiversity Information System25 323 records↗
ENAEuropean Nucleotide Archive · EMBL-EBI199 eDNA detections↗
BOLD SystemsCentre for Biodiversity Genomics208 specimens↗
FooDBThe Metabolomics Innovation Centrecompounds↗
Open Tree of LifeOpenTreephylogeny backbone↗
GoaTGenomes on a Tree · Sangergenome & karyotype↗
NCBIUS National Library of Medicinegenome & karyotype↗
Paleobiology DatabasePBDB consortiumfossil record↗
WikidataWikimedia Foundationstructured facts↗
IOC World Bird ListIOCbird checklist↗Every layer below draws on the sources above — open one to explore it, or use ← → to move between tabs.
The mallard () or wild duck (Anas platyrhynchos) is a dabbling duck that breeds throughout the temperate and subtropical Americas, Eurasia, and North Africa, and has been introduced to New Zealand, Australia, Peru, Brazil, Uruguay, Argentina, Chile, Colombia, the Falkland Islands, and South Africa. This duck belongs to the subfamily Anatinae of the waterfowl family Anatidae. Males have purple patches on their wings, while the females (hens or ducks) have mainly brown-speckled plumage. Both sexes have an area of white-bordered black or iridescent blue feathers called a speculum on their wings; males especially tend to have blue speculum feathers. The mallard is 50 – long, of which the body makes up around two-thirds the length. The wingspan is 81 – and the bill is 4.4 to long. It is often slightly heavier than most other dabbling ducks, weighing 0.7 –. Mallards live in wetlands, eat water plants and small animals, and are social animals preferring to congregate in groups or flocks of varying sizes. The female lays 8 to 13 creamy white to greenish-buff spotless eggs, on alternate days. Incubation takes 27 to 28 days and fledging takes 50 to 60 days. The ducklings are precocial and fully capable of swimming as soon as they hatch. The mallard is considered to be a species of least concern by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Unlike many waterfowl, mallards are considered an invasive species in some regions. It is a very adaptable species, being able to live and even thrive in urban areas which may have supported more localised, sensitive species of waterfowl before development. The non-migratory mallard interbreeds with indigenous wild ducks of closely related species through genetic pollution by producing fertile offspring. Complete hybridisation of various species of wild duck gene pools could result in the extinction of many indigenous waterfowl. This species is the main ancestor of most breeds of domestic duck, and its naturally evolved wild gene pool has been genetically polluted by the domestic and feral mallard populations.
No narrative description available for this taxon yet.
Size & morphology14
Life cycle & reproduction11
Diet & foraging10
Habitat & environment8
Physiology & chemistry1
Compounds documented for Anas platyrhynchos across natural-product and food-composition databases — not just the ~150 nutrients on a classic label ("nutritional dark matter").
Compound class profile5 classes
Documented compounds42 428 total
| Compound | Class | Amount | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| (1R,16Z,24Z,29Z)-1,18-dihydroxy-12-[1-(4-hydroxy-3-methoxycyclohexyl)propan-2-yl]-19,31-dimethoxy-15,17,21,23,30,36-hexamethyl-11,27,37-trioxa-4-azatetracyclo[31.3.1.0⁴,⁹.0²⁶,²⁸]heptatriaconta-16,24,29-triene-2,3,10,14,20-pentone | present | FooDB | |
| (2,6-dihydroxy-4-{4-hydroxy-7-methyl-11-oxo-2,8-dioxatricyclo[7.3.1.0⁵,¹³]trideca-1(12),3,5(13),6,9-pentaen-3-yl}phenoxy)dihydroxyoxo-λ⁶-sulfanylium | present | FooDB | |
| (4-{2-[(1R,16Z,24Z,29Z)-1,18-dihydroxy-19,31-dimethoxy-15,17,21,23,30,36-hexamethyl-2,3,10,14,20-pentaoxo-11,27,37-trioxa-4-azatetracyclo[31.3.1.0⁴,⁹.0²⁶,²⁸]heptatriaconta-16,24,29-trien-12-yl]propyl}-2-methoxycyclohexyl)oxidanesulfonic acid | present | FooDB | |
| (E)-3-decen-1-ol | present | FooDB | |
| 1,3-Diisopropylbenzene | present | FooDB | |
| 1-Aminopyrene | present | FooDB | |
| 1-Hydroxypyrene glucuronide | present | FooDB | |
| 1-Nitroheptane | present | FooDB | |
| 1-Nitrohexane | present | FooDB | |
| 1-palmitoylglycerol 3-phosphate | present | FooDB |
A DNA barcode is a short, standardised stretch of genes that works like a fingerprint — enough to tell one species from another. Below is the molecular trace Anas platyrhynchos has left across the world's sequence archives.
At a glance
★ the standard DNA barcode for this group — the short region actually read to tell this species apart. The rest are extra genes sequenced along the way.
Besides the big genome in the nucleus, cells carry a small, circular loop of DNA inside the cell's energy factories — the mitochondria. It is inherited almost only from the mother and is a leftover from ancient bacteria that moved into the cell. The mitochondrial markers above (ND*, COX, CYTB…) are read from exactly this loop. Outer ring = one strand, inner ring = the other.
The complete instruction manual Anas platyrhynchos carries — its genome. We read it from three angles — how big it is, how the DNA is packed into chromosomes, and how completely it has been sequenced — and explain how to read each value as you go.
Genome sizehow big the whole instruction manual is
Measured in base pairs (bp) — the individual letters of DNA (human ≈ 3.2 Gb, a bacterium a few million). The chart places this genome on a logarithmic scale — each step to the right is ten times bigger — among reference organisms. Across species a bigger genome loosely tracks with larger cells, slower growth and lower-energy lifestyles (powered flight favours small genomes) — yet it does not imply more genes or a more advanced organism (the long-standing C-value paradox).
Chromosomes & ploidyhow the DNA is packaged
2n is the full chromosome count in a normal body cell; n is a gamete (egg or sperm), which carries half. Ploidy is how many complete chromosome sets each cell holds — 2× (diploid) is typical for animals, while higher levels (polyploidy) are common in plants. Click any value below to see the underlying records and sources.
2n 804×GoaT · Animal Chromosome Counts Database · GoaT · Bird Chromosome Database · GoaT · Animal Genome Size Database
2n 761×GoaT · Animal Chromosome Counts Database
2n 771×GoaT · Animal Chromosome Counts Database
Sequencing statusassembly quality — how far to trust these numbers
Assembly level tells you how finished the sequence is — from fragmented contigs, through scaffolds, up to a full chromosome-level assembly. BUSCO % estimates completeness: the share of genes expected to be present that were actually found. These describe the data quality, not the organism.
How far back this lineage goes — and how we know. Everything here is measured in Ma, short for “mega-annum”: millions of years ago. The chart reads left to right like a calendar of the Earth, from the deep past on the left to today at the right edgetop to bottom like a core drilled through the Earth, from the deep past at the top down to today at the bottom.
At a glance
When this lineage existed
How to read this: the coloured strip along the bottomdown the left is the geological calendar — the standard epochs (Pliocene, Pleistocene…) every museum uses, shown so you can see which chapter of Earth's history this lineage lived in. This lineage is a young one, so the strip is zoomed in to epochs — the finer subdivisions inside a period. The solid bar is the fossil range: the span between the oldest and the youngest fossil that palaeontologists have assigned to Anas platyrhynchos. Above itBeside it, the bars count how many dated finds fall in each slice of time; the tallest bar is labelled, and heights use a square-root scale so that thin slices stay visible next to rich ones. Read this as how well each stretch of time is preserved and studied — thick bars mean plenty of the right kind of rock and plenty of collectors, which is related to, but not the same as, how common it actually was. The orange marker is the DNA clock: DNA accumulates mutations at a roughly steady rate, so comparing this species' DNA with its relatives estimates when the lineage split off — independently of any fossil.
The two clocks disagree here. The fossil record reaches back to 5.33 Ma, but the molecular clock dates the lineage to only 0.4 Ma — about 4.94 Myr younger. A fossil cannot be older than the lineage it belongs to, so one of the two is off: either the fossil is assigned to the wrong species, or the clock is running fast.
How it livedPBDB
Record type27 855 648 records
Origin
Range
Depth
Wildobservation + sensor
Human sightings and records, or camera-trap / sensor detections — someone (or a device) saw or captured the species in the wild.
Museum / Voucheredphysical evidence
Backed by a physical specimen — a herbarium sheet, sample or voucher held in a collection. “Vouchered” means supported by material evidence, not just an observation.
Cultivated / Captivenot free-living
A living individual in a botanical garden, zoo or nursery — cultivated or kept, not free-living.
Wildobservation + sensor
Human sightings and records, or camera-trap / sensor detections — someone (or a device) saw or captured the species in the wild.
Holding institutions66 of 130 geolocated
Institutions and collections holding physical, vouchered specimens of this species — click a row to fly to it on the map.
| Institution | Specimens |
|---|---|
| NSMKlocation not on record | 1 807 |
| Salzburg, AT | 590 |
| Denver, US | 413 |
| Cambridge, US | 347 |
| Helsinki, FI | 270 |
| Museo civico La Terra e l'Uomo di Crocetta del Montellolocation not on record | 249 |
| Seattle, US | 220 |
| Tromsø, NO | 187 |
| Stockholm, SE | 178 |
| Ann Arbor, US | 160 |
| Washington, US | 143 |
| München, DE | 121 |
| Edmonton, CA | 119 |
| Zoological Museum, Moscow Lomonosov State Universitylocation not on record | 108 |
| Ohio State University - Bird Division, Columbus, OH (OSUM)location not on record | 106 |
| Paris, FR | 105 |
| Chicago, US | 101 |
| Mongolian Museum of Natural Historylocation not on record | 91 |
| Oulu, FI | 91 |
| Kuopio, FI | 87 |
| Barcelona, ES | 81 |
| Tacoma, US | 80 |
| Royal Saskatchewan Museumlocation not on record | 72 |
| Provincia di Livornolocation not on record | 71 |
| Natural History Museum Rotterdamlocation not on record | 65 |
| University of Nebraska State Museumlocation not on record | 65 |
| US | 63 |
| Philadelphia, US | 63 |
| Iowa City, US | 58 |
| Delaware Museum of Nature and Sciencelocation not on record | 57 |
| Washington State University, Charles R. Conner Museumlocation not on record | 57 |
| SLU Artdatabankenlocation not on record | 55 |
| Geneva, CH | 55 |
| Auckland, NZ | 47 |
| Liverpool, GB | 43 |
| Saint John, CA | 41 |
| Ithaca, US | 39 |
| Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznańlocation not on record | 36 |
| Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural Historylocation not on record | 35 |
| Wuzhou, CN | 34 |
| EL PASO, US | 34 |
| MZLUlocation not on record | 28 |
| Texas Cooperative Wildlife Collectionlocation not on record | 28 |
| Albany, US | 26 |
| New Haven, US | 26 |
| Toronto, CA | 26 |
| Copenhagen, DK | 24 |
| Chicago, US | 24 |
| NHMOlocation not on record | 24 |
| Museums Victorialocation not on record | 23 |
| CASlocation not on record | 23 |
| University of Victorialocation not on record | 21 |
| Zacatecas, MX | 21 |
| Natural History Museum, Aarhus Denmarklocation not on record | 17 |
| Central Michigan University Museum of Cultural and Natural Historylocation not on record | 15 |
| Mexico City, MX | 15 |
| Forssa, FI | 15 |
| Frankfurt am Main | 14 |
| MNHAHlocation not on record | 14 |
| Los Angeles, US | 14 |
| Tilburg, NL | 13 |
| Brussels, BE | 13 |
| EEZAlocation not on record | 13 |
| University of Alberta Museumslocation not on record | 13 |
| Philip L. Wright Zoological Museumlocation not on record | 12 |
| IMEDEAlocation not on record | 11 |
| Sevilla, ES | 11 |
| Honolulu, US | 11 |
| Rovaniemi, FI | 10 |
| RBINS-Scientific Heritagelocation not on record | 10 |
| DOI/NPS, Salem Maritime National Historic Sitelocation not on record | 9 |
| SMNHTAUlocation not on record | 8 |
| Kristiansand, NO | 8 |
| QVMAGlocation not on record | 7 |
| South Kensington, GB | 7 |
| Vancouver, CA | 7 |
| Zografou, GR | 7 |
| TMPMlocation not on record | 6 |
| CBDClocation not on record | 6 |
| SNSDlocation not on record | 6 |
| San Diego, US | 5 |
| Gifu prefectural Museumlocation not on record | 5 |
| STOCKHOLM, SE | 5 |
| Science Museum of Minnesotalocation not on record | 5 |
| Universidad de Caldas (UCaldas)location not on record | 5 |
| Universidad Católica de Manizaleslocation not on record | 5 |
| Chongqing Museumlocation not on record | 4 |
| Louisiana State University, Museum of Zoologylocation not on record | 4 |
| Natural History Museum of Utahlocation not on record | 4 |
| Banyoles, ES | 4 |
| Bergen, NO | 4 |
| Winterthur, CH | 3 |
| DASSHlocation not on record | 3 |
| Ilvolocation not on record | 3 |
| Natick, US | 3 |
| ASNHClocation not on record | 3 |
| ASUlocation not on record | 3 |
| BG-NMNHSlocation not on record | 2 |
| Natural History Museum, Londonlocation not on record | 2 |
| Obihiro Centennial City Museumlocation not on record | 2 |
| Ciudad de México, MX | 2 |
| Australian National Wildlife Collectionlocation not on record | 2 |
| Mexico City, MX | 2 |
| Institute of Plant and Animal Ecology UB RASlocation not on record | 2 |
| Sydney, AU | 2 |
| Santa Cruz, US | 2 |
| Bourges, FR | 2 |
| Universidad Icesi (ICESI)location not on record | 2 |
| Toyota city nature sanctuarylocation not on record | 2 |
| Facultad de Ciencias Marinas, Universidad Autónoma de Baja Californialocation not on record | 1 |
| Ohio Wesleyan University Museum of Natural Historylocation not on record | 1 |
| Ensenada, MX | 1 |
| University of Oslo, Natural History Museumlocation not on record | 1 |
| Stockholm, SE | 1 |
| ZMAAlocation not on record | 1 |
| Yamashina Institute for Ornithologylocation not on record | 1 |
| University of California Los Angeleslocation not on record | 1 |
| Zoologisches Museum Hamburglocation not on record | 1 |
| Western Australian Museumlocation not on record | 1 |
| Cincinnati, US | 1 |
| St. Paul, US | 1 |
| Iowa State Universitylocation not on record | 1 |
| Tallinn, EE | 1 |
| PNHSlocation not on record | 1 |
| Berkeley, US | 1 |
| Morelia, MX | 1 |
| Ugentlocation not on record | 1 |
| Porvoo, FI | 1 |
| Tasmanian Museum & Art Gallerylocation not on record | 1 |
| Truckee, US | 1 |
Cultivated / Captivenot free-living
A living individual in a botanical garden, zoo or nursery — cultivated or kept, not free-living.
Where the DNA of Anas platyrhynchos was picked up in samples of water, soil or air — nobody saw the organism, only its DNA left behind. A trace is a clue that the species was near, not a confirmed sighting.
Signal
Where its DNA was found
How strong is each trace?
Measured at samplingin-field
Modelled climatemodelled
How to read this: each dot is one detection of this species' DNA in an environmental sample. The confidence meter weighs how many independent studies and places back up the signal — one detection in one study is a hint; many across several studies is solid. Records dated before 2008 (when eDNA methods began) are treated as likely mislabeled and left off the map.