 the magpie goose (anseranas semipalmata) is a waterbird species found in coastal northern australia and savannah in southern new guinea. it is a unique member of the order anseriformes, and arranged in a family and genus distinct from all other living waterfowl. the magpie goose is a resident breeder in northern australia and in southern new guinea. ==description== magpie geese are unmistakable birds with their black and white plumage and yellowish legs. the feet are only partially webbed, although the magpie goose will feed on vegetable matter in the water as well as on land. males are larger than females. unlike true geese, the moult is gradual, and there is no flightless period. the voice is a loud honking. ==systematics and evolution== this species is placed in the order anseriformes, having the characteristic bill structure, but is considered to be distinct from the other species in this taxon. the related and extant families, anhimidae (screamers) and anatidae (ducks, geese and swans), contain all the other taxa. the magpie goose is contained in the genus anseranas and family anseranatidae, which are monotypic in our age. thumb|left a cladistic study of the morphology of waterfowl found that the magpie goose was an early and distinctive offshoot, diverging after screamers and before all other ducks, geese and swans. this family is quite old, a living fossil, having apparently diverged before the cretaceousâpaleogene extinction event â the relative vegavis iaai lived some 68-67 million years ago. the fossil record is limited, nonetheless. the enigmatic genus anatalavis (hornerstown late cretaceous or early paleocene of new jersey, usa - london clay early eocene of walton-on-the-naze, england) is sometimes considered to be the earliest known anseranatid. other paleogene birds sometimes considered magpie-geese are the genera geranopsis from the hordwell formation late eocene to the early oligocene of england and anserpica from the late oligocene of billy-
Birds_of_Indonesia Birds_of_New_Guinea Birds_of_South_Australia Birds_of_Western_Australia Geese IUCN_Red_List_least_concern_species Living_fossils