The male mallard duck, instantly recognizable by its green head and yellow bill, is ubiquitous throughout the northern hemisphere, with perhaps a larger population than any other duck species. Mallards grow to nearly 2 feet long and weigh nearly 3 pounds.
History
The Mallard’s scientific name, Anas platyrhynchos, means broad-billed duck, with Anas being the Latin for duck, and Platyrhynchos being ancient Greek for broad billed. The Greek Platus can be recognized also in the name platypus, with means broad foot. Scientific names are created through a system called binomial nomenclature, which includes a genus and species name. Carolus Linnaeus, a Swedish scientist, popularized the system of binomial nomenclature in his Systema Naturae, the foundational work in zoology and botany, where he organized kingdoms into classes, order, genera, and species, giving many scientific names that are still in use today. One of those names, of course, was Anas platyrhynchos, the mallard duck.