Editing Steller's eider (section)

== Taxonomy ==
Steller's eider was [[Species description|formally described]] and illustrated in 1769 by the German naturalist [[Peter Simon Pallas]] from a specimen collected on the [[Kamchatka Peninsula]] in Eastern Russia. He coined the [[binomial name]] ''Anas stelleri''; the specific epithet was chosen to honour the German naturalist and explorer [[Georg Wilhelm Steller]].<ref>{{ cite book | last=Pallas | first=Peter Simon | author-link=Peter Simon Pallas | year=1769 | title=Spicilegia zoologica : quibus novae imprimis et obscurae animalium species iconibus, descriptionibus atque commentariis illustrantur | volume=1 | language=Latin | location=Berolini | publisher=Prostant apud Gottl. August. Lange | at=fasc. 6 pp. 35-36; Plate 5 | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/27817879 }}</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=490 | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/16109130 }}</ref> Steller's eider is now the only species placed in the genus ''Polysticta'' that was introduced in 1836 by the English naturalist [[Thomas Campbell Eyton|Thomas Eyton]]. The species is [[monotypic]]: no [[subspecies]] are recognised.<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 | date=January 2023 | title=Screamers, ducks, geese & swans | work=IOC World Bird List Version 13.1 | url=https://www.worldbirdnames.org/bow/waterfowl/ | publisher=International Ornithologists' Union | access-date=13 April 2023 }}</ref><ref>{{ cite book | last=Eyton | first=Thomas Campbell | author-link=Thomas Campbell Eyton | date=1836 | title=A Catalogue of British Birds | location=London | publisher=Longman, Rees, Orne, Brown, Green and Longman | page=58 }}</ref> The genus name is from [[Ancient Greek]] ''polustiktos'' meaning "much spotted" (from ''polus'' "many" and ''stiktos'' "spotted").<ref>{{cite book | last=Jobling | first=James A. | year=2010| title= The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names | publisher=Christopher Helm | location=London | isbn= 978-1-4081-2501-4 | page=313 | url=https://archive.org/stream/Helm_Dictionary_of_Scientific_Bird_Names_by_James_A._Jobling#page/n313/mode/1up }}</ref>

Despite its name, it is only distantly related to all other extant [[eider]] species, which are part of the ''Somateria'' genus.<ref>{{Cite web|title=ITIS - Report: Polysticta stelleri|url=https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=175153#null|access-date=2021-11-11|website=www.itis.gov}}</ref> Steller's eider was separated from other eider species into its own genus in 1945 due to behavioral and anatomical differences.<ref name=":13">{{Cite book|last=A.|first=Johnsgard, Paul|url=https://worldcat.org/oclc/729247849|title=The Taxonomy of the Anatidae—A Behavioural Analysis|date=1961-01-01|publisher=DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln|oclc=729247849}}</ref> Accordingly, Steller's eider may provide a taxonomic link between the eider species in the ''Somateria'' genus and the other sea ducks.<ref name=":13" /> It is most closely related to the [[Extinction|extinct]] [[Labrador duck]].<ref>{{Cite journal|author1=Janet C. Buckner |author2=Ryan Ellingson |author3=David A. Gold |author4=Terry L. Jones |author5=David K. Jacobs |year=2018 |title=Mitogenomics supports an unexpected taxonomic relationship for the extinct diving duck ''Chendytes lawi'' and definitively places the extinct Labrador Duck |journal=Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution |volume= 122|pages= 102–109|doi=10.1016/j.ympev.2017.12.008 |pmid=29247849 |bibcode=2018MolPE.122..102B |url=https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/ssci_fac/99 }}</ref>