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Ardea alba (great egret)

Reptilia - Pelecaniformes - Ardeidae

Taxonomy
Ardea alba was named by Linnaeus (1758). It is extant.

It was recombined as Casmerodius albus by Wetmore (1931), Wetmore (1940), Miller and DeMay (1942), Wetmore (1956); it was recombined as Egretta alba by Worthy (1998).

Subspecies
A. egretta

Synonymy list
YearName and author
1758Ardea alba Linnaeus p. 144
1931Casmerodius albus Wetmore p. 15
1940Casmerodius albus Wetmore p. 15
1942Casmerodius albus Miller and DeMay p. 79
1956Casmerodius albus Wetmore p. 19
1998Egretta alba Worthy p. 106
2003Ardea alba Steadman et al.
2010Ardea alba Steadman and Mead p. 428
2014Ardea alba del Hoyo et al.
2015Ardea alba Worthy et al. p. 232
2017Ardea alba Clements et al.

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RankNameAuthor
kingdomAnimalia()
—Bilateria
—EubilateriaAx 1987
—Deuterostomia
phylumChordataHaeckel 1874
subphylumVertebrata
superclassGnathostomata
—Osteichthyes()
subclassSarcopterygii()
subclassDipnotetrapodomorpha(Nelson 2006)
subclassTetrapodomorpha()
—Tetrapoda
—Reptiliomorpha
—Anthracosauria
subclassAmphibiosauriaKuhn 1967
—Cotylosauria()
—Amniota
—Sauropsida
classReptilia
subclassEureptilia()
—Romeriida
—Diapsida()
—Archosauromorpha(Huene 1946)
—Crocopoda
RankNameAuthor
—ArchosauriformesGauthier 1986
—Eucrocopoda
—Archosauria()
informalAvemetatarsalia
—Ornithodira
—Dinosauromorpha
—Dinosauriformes
—Dinosauria()
—Theropoda()
—Neotheropoda
—AverostraPaul 2002
—Tetanurae
—Coelurosauria()
—Maniraptora
—Paraves
classAves
subclassNeornithesGadow 1893
—Aequornithes
—Feraequornithes
superorderPelecanimorphaeHuxley 1867
orderPelecaniformesSharpe 1891
familyArdeidaeLeach 1820
genusArdea
speciesalba

If no rank is listed, the taxon is considered an unranked clade in modern classifications. Ranks may be repeated or presented in the wrong order because authors working on different parts of the classification may disagree about how to rank taxa.

Ardea alba Linnaeus 1758 [great egret]
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Ardea alba egretta Gmelin 1789
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Diagnosis
No diagnoses are available
Measurements
No measurements are available
Composition: hydroxyapatiteo
Entire body: yeso
Adult length: 10 to < 100o
Adult width: 1.0 to < 10o
Adult height: 1.0 to < 10o
Architecture: compact or denseo
Ontogeny: accretion, modification of partso
Grouping: solitaryo
Environment: terrestrialf
Locomotion: actively mobileo
Life habit: volantf
Diet: piscivoref
Reproduction: oviparouso
Dispersal: direct/internalo
Dispersal 2: mobileo
Created: 2009-01-03 16:51:50
Modified: 2009-01-03 18:51:50
Source: f = family, o = order
References: Thiollay 1994, Marsh 1875

Age range

Maximum range based only on fossils: base of the Blancan to the top of the Holocene or 4.70000 to 0.00000 Ma
Minimum age of oldest fossil (stem group age): 1.4 Ma

Collections (16 total)


Time interval Ma Country or state Original ID and collection number
Blancan4.7 - 1.4USA (Florida) Casmerodius albus (19752)
Irvingtonian1.4 - 0.21USA (Florida) Casmerodius albus (20400)
Rancholabrean0.21 - 0.014Mexico (Sonora) Ardea alba (20495)
Late/Upper Pleistocene0.129 - 0.0117Peru Casmerodius albus (71346)
Late/Upper Pleistocene (glacial)0.129 - 0.0117USA (Florida) Casmerodius albus (154771)
Late/Upper Pleistocene0.129 - 0.0117Chile (O'Higgins) Ardea alba (71280)
Late/Upper Pleistocene (interglacial)0.129 - 0.0117USA (Florida) Casmerodius albus (20636)
Late/Upper Pleistocene0.129 - 0.0117Congo-Kinshasa Egretta alba (22066)
Late/Upper Pleistocene0.129 - 0.0117USA (Florida) Casmerodius albus (74292 154773) Herodias egretta (34269)
Late/Upper Pleistocene0.129 - 0.0117USA (California) Casmerodius albus (190077)
Late/Upper Pleistocene0.129 - 0.0117Madagascar Ardea alba (204645 204646)
Holocene0.0117 - 0.0New Zealand Egretta alba (194618)
Holocene0.0117 - 0.0Mexico (Chiapas) Ardea alba (195047)