Darter
The darters, anhingas, or snakebirds is a family of aquatic birds which resemble pelicans. They mainly occur in the tropics.
| Darter Temporal range: Early Miocene – Recent
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| Male African darter Anhinga rufa | |
Scientific classification 
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| Unrecognized taxon (fix): | Anhinga |
| Type species | |
| Plotus anhinga Linnaeus, 1766
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| Species | |
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Anhinga anhinga | |
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| World distribution of the family Anhingidae | |
| Synonyms | |
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Family-level: Genus-level: | |
There are four living species. Three of the species are common, the fourth is rarer, and listed as near-threatened by the IUCN.
The term snakebird is used for any of these species: They have a long thin neck. When they swim, only the head and neck are visible. This looks like a snake. Darter is a term that refers to they way these birds catch fish: They impale the fish with their beak. The American darter is sometimes called anhinga. Sometimes it is called water turkey, even though it is unrelated to the turkey.
Darter Media
Female anhinga (A. anhinga) taking off
Australasian darter drying its wings
Female Australasian darter, Anhinga novaehollandiae, drying its wings
Oriental darter nesting colony at Kalletumkara (Kerala, India)
Male anhinga (A. anhinga) in breeding plumage
African darter on the waterfront of the Chobe River, Botswana
Spine, tendons and musculature of the neck showing the elongated vertebrae (3–8) that enable the darting movements. The tendon that runs behind the spine runs under a fibrous bridge ("bridge of Dönitz") in the shortened ninth vertebra.
References
- ↑ Walter J. Bock (1994): History and Nomenclature of Avian Family-Group Names. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History, number 222; with application of article 36 of ICZN.