Gracanicanetta

Gracanicanetta; Temporal range: Miocene PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Anseriformes
Family:	Anatidae
Genus:	†Gracanicanetta; Bochenski, Happ, Salwa & Tomek, 2025
Species:	†G. happi
Binomial name
	†Gracanicanetta happi; Bochenski, Happ, Salwa & Tomek, 2025

Gracanicanetta is a genus of extinct duck that lived on in Bosnia and Herzegovina during the middle Miocene epoch. It currently contains only one species which is Gracanicanetta happi. It lived in swamp environments and was probably a diving duck. It has the record of being the first documented fossil of a duck with gastroliths. Theses appear as smooth stones in clusters of around a dozen in the approximate location of the gizzard.^[1]

Etymology

It was named after Gračanica where the specimen was found. “Netta” means duck in Greek. “Happi” is in reference to Helga and Friedrich Happ who are herpetologists and donors of the fossil.^[1]

References

^ ^a ^b Bochenski, Zbigniew M.; Happ, Johannes; Salwa, Grzegorz; Tomek, Teresa (2025-03-26). "The first fossil bird from the Miocene swamps of Gračanica, Bosnia and Herzegovina: A novel and very unique duck". Palaeontologia Electronica. 28 (1): 1–16. doi:10.26879/1512. ISSN 1094-8074.

This duck article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

[:0-1] Bochenski, Zbigniew M.; Happ, Johannes; Salwa, Grzegorz; Tomek, Teresa (2025-03-26). "The first fossil bird from the Miocene swamps of Gračanica, Bosnia and Herzegovina: A novel and very unique duck". Palaeontologia Electronica. 28 (1): 1–16. doi:10.26879/1512. ISSN 1094-8074.

[1]