Taxonomy
Named by Lionel Walter Rothschild in 1892, the Laysan Duck is named after Laysan island, one of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. It is a member of the mallard clade of dabbling ducks, and is a highly behaviorally and genetically unusual species. Recent evidence suggests they evolved from an east Asian, southern hemisphere ancestor of mallards, not from stray migratory Mallards (Anas platyrhynchos) as had been reported in the past.
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