Editing Greater scaup (section)

==Taxonomy==
[[File:Greater-scaup-male2.jpg|thumb|left|''A. m. nearctica'' male, California]]
The greater scaup was [[species description|formally described]] by [[Carl Linnaeus]] in 1761 under the [[binomial name]] ''Anas marila''. The [[type locality (biology)|type locality]] is Lapland.<ref>{{cite book | last=Linnaeus | first=Carl | author-link=Carl Linnaeus | year=1761 | title=Fauna svecica, sistens animalia sveciae regni mammalia, aves amphibia, pisces, insecta, vermes | edition=2nd | language=la | location=Stockholmiae | publisher=Sumtu & Literis Direct. Laurentii Salvii | page=39 | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/32170508 }}</ref><ref>{{ cite book | editor1-last=Mayr | editor1-first=Ernst | editor1-link=Ernst Mayr | editor2-last=Cottrell | editor2-first=G. William | year=1979 | title=Check-List of Birds of the World | volume=1 | edition=2nd | publisher=Museum of Comparative Zoology | place=Cambridge, Massachusetts | page=486 | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/16109126 }}</ref> The species is now placed in the [[genus]] ''[[Aythya]]'' that was introduced for the greater scaup by the German zoologist [[Friedrich Boie]] in 1822.<ref>{{ cite book | last=Boie | first=Friedrich | author-link=Friedrich Boie | year=1822 | title=Tagebuch gehalten auf einer Reise durch Norwegen im Jahre 1817 | language=de | publisher=Schleswig | pages=[https://archive.org/details/tagebuchgehalten00boie/page/308 308], 351 | url=https://archive.org/details/tagebuchgehalten00boie }}</ref><ref name=ioc>{{cite web| editor1-last=Gill | editor1-first=Frank | editor1-link=Frank Gill (ornithologist) | editor2-last=Donsker | editor2-first=David | editor3-last=Rasmussen | editor3-first=Pamela | editor3-link=Pamela Rasmussen | year=2020 | title=Screamers, ducks, geese, swans | work=IOC World Bird List Version 10.1 | url=https://www.worldbirdnames.org/bow/waterfowl/ | publisher=International Ornithologists' Union | access-date=23 March 2020 }}</ref>

The genus name ''Aythya'' is derived from the [[Ancient Greek]] {{lang|grc|αἴθυιᾰ}} ({{Transliteration|grc|aithuia}}) which refers to a seabird mentioned by [[Aristotle]] and others and is thought to refer to a seaduck or other seabird. The species name ''marila'' is from the Greek word for charcoal embers or coal dust.<ref name=Jobling2010/>

[[File:Aythya marila f Humber Bay Toronto.jpg|thumb|left|''A. m. nearctica'' female, Ontario]]
Two subspecies of Greater scaup are currently accepted. The nominate ''A. m. marila'' is found from northern Europe to east Siberia, west of the [[Lena River]]. The birds in North America are treated as a separate subspecies ''A. m. nearctica'',<ref name="Reeber" /> and are distinguishable from those in Europe by a typically higher forehead, and the male having stronger vermiculations on the mantle and [[scapula]]rs. Additionally, there is less extensive white on the primary feathers than ''A. m. marila''.<ref name="Sangster2005" /> Greater Scaup of far eastern Asia (east of the Lena River towards the Bering Sea) are intermediate between the two subspecies and sometimes lumped with either race, or a distinct subspecies ''A. m. mariloides'', though the latter name is invalid, as it was first used to describe the lesser scaup ''A. affinis''.<ref name="Banks1986" /> Based on size differences, a [[Pleistocene]] [[paleosubspecies]], ''Aythya marila asphaltica'', has also been described by Serebrovskij in 1941 from [[fossil]]s recovered at [[Binagady]], Azerbaijan. A [[phylogenetic]] analysis of the diving ducks, examining the skeletal anatomy and skin, found that the greater and lesser scaups are each other's closest relatives, with the [[tufted duck]] as the next closest relative of the pair.<ref name=Livezey1996/>

The greater scaup's English name, first attested as 'Scaup Duck' in 1678, most likely comes from "scaup" or "scalp", a [[Scots language|Scottish]] and [[Northern England English|Northern English]] word for a shellfish bed, where the birds typically feed in winter.<ref name="Lockwood">{{cite book|last = Lockwood| first = W. B.|title = Oxford Book of British Bird Names|publisher = Oxford University Press|year = 1984}}</ref><ref name="NSOED" /> but could also be from the duck's [[mating call]]: "scaup scaup".{{citation needed|date=August 2024}}

[[File:GScaup27122021.png|thumb|Comparison photo: Greater scaup (top left) vs. [[Tufted duck]] (''Aythya fuligula'')]]