Brant

SCI Name:  Branta bernicla
Protonym:  Anas Bernicla Syst.Nat.ed.10 p.124
Taxonomy:  Anseriformes / Anatidae / Branta
Taxonomy Code:  brant
Type Locality:  Northern Europe = Sweden.
Author:  Linnaeus
Publish Year:  1758
IUCN Status:  Least Concern

DEFINITIONS

BRANTA
(Anatidae; Ϯ Brent Goose B. bernicla) Late Med. L. branta and brendina  brent goose  < Old Norse Brandgás  burnt (-black) goose. The name was shortened and Latinized into its present form by Turner 1544. There is no connection with Gr. βρενθος brenthos an unidentified waterbird. "BRANTA.  KLEIN. SYST. AV.  Tab. XXXIV.  Rostrum attenuatum. Digitus posticus terminatus ungue valido, tereti, membrana subtus alato.   84. BRANTA BERNICLA.  ...  85. BRANTA MOSCHATA.  ...  86. BRANTA TORRIDA.  ...  87. BRANTA ALBIFRONS." (Scopoli 1769); "Branta Scopoli, Annus I, Hist. Nat., 1769, p. 67. Type, by subsequent designation, Anas bernicla Linné. (Bannister, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila., 1870, p. 131.)" (Peters 1931, I, 149).   
Var. Brante.   
Synon. Bernicla, Brenthus, Eubranta, Geochen, Leucoblepharon, Leucopareia, Nesochen, Ptocas, Rufibrenta.
● (Anatidae; syn. Netta † Red-crested Pochard N. rufina) "153  Gattung.  Branta.   389.  rufina." (Boie 1822); "The genus Brante [sic] was adopted from Klein by Scopoli in 1769, the first species being Anas bernicla, L.  This, according to usage, will have to be substituted for Bernicla of Boie (Isis, 1822), and also antedates his genus Branta, established at the same time, the type of which is Anas rufina, Pall." (Bannister 1870); "Branta Boie, 1822, Isis von Oken, Heft V, col. 564 (not Branta Scopoli, 1769).  Type, by monotypy, Branta rufina = Anas rufina Pallas, 1773." (JAJ 2020).

bernicla
Late Med. L. bernicla  barnacle goose. Until the middle of the eighteenth century the brent geese and the Barnacle Goose were often regarded as one species. In mediaeval times it was thought that the Barnacle Goose and the barnacle Lepadidae were different forms of the same creature, and that the geese were produced from barnacles that grew on old timbers exposed to salt-water. Even as late as 1636 Gerard wrote of “broken pieces of old ships on which is found certain spume or froth, which in time breedeth into shells, and the fish which is hatched therefrom is in shape and habit like a bird.” However, this fable received short shrift from Ray 1678, “What is reported concerning the rise and original of these birds, to wit, that they are bred of rotten wood, for instance, of the Masts, Ribs, and Planks of broken Ships half putrified and corrupted, or of certain Palms of trees falling into the Sea, or lastly, of a kind of Sea-shels  ...  may be seen in Aldrovand ...  and many others. But that all these stories are false and fabulous I am confidently perswaded”; "61. ANAS.  ...  Bernicla.  11. A. fusca, capite collo pectoreque nigris, collari albo.  Anas capite colloque nigris. Fn. svec. 91.  Branta s. Bernicla. Gesn. av. 110. Aldr. orn. l. 19. c. 23. Jonst. av. t. 49. Will. orn. 274. 275. t. 10. Raj. av. 137. Valent. mus. 495. Alb. av. I. p. 89. t. 93.  Habitat in Europa boreali; migrat supra Sveciam." (Linnaeus 1758) (Branta).

Bernicla
(Anatidae; syn. Branta † Brent Goose B. bernicla) Specific name Anas bernicla Linnaeus, 1758; "Macreuse; Bernicla, Anser, Cygnus" (Oken 1817): based on group-name “Bernaches” of Cuvier 1817  < Late Med. L. bernacula  barnacle goose (Cabard & Chauvet 2003, refer to, "le latin pernacula, petite coquille"; pernacula is an unattested dim. from perna  mussel, limpet); "149. Gattung. Bernicla.   377. torquata.  378. leucopsis.  379. ruficollis." (Boie 1822); "Bernicla Boie, Isis, 1822, pp. 563, 883—type, by subs. desig. (Stephens, Gen. Zool., 12, (2), p. 45, 1824), Anas bernicla Linnaeus." (Hellmayr and Conover, 1948, Cat. Birds Americas, Pt. I (2), p. 294).   
Var. Bernicula.

SUBSPECIES

Brant (Dark-bellied)
SCI Name: Branta bernicla bernicla
bernicla
Late Med. L. bernicla  barnacle goose. Until the middle of the eighteenth century the brent geese and the Barnacle Goose were often regarded as one species. In mediaeval times it was thought that the Barnacle Goose and the barnacle Lepadidae were different forms of the same creature, and that the geese were produced from barnacles that grew on old timbers exposed to salt-water. Even as late as 1636 Gerard wrote of “broken pieces of old ships on which is found certain spume or froth, which in time breedeth into shells, and the fish which is hatched therefrom is in shape and habit like a bird.” However, this fable received short shrift from Ray 1678, “What is reported concerning the rise and original of these birds, to wit, that they are bred of rotten wood, for instance, of the Masts, Ribs, and Planks of broken Ships half putrified and corrupted, or of certain Palms of trees falling into the Sea, or lastly, of a kind of Sea-shels  ...  may be seen in Aldrovand ...  and many others. But that all these stories are false and fabulous I am confidently perswaded”; "61. ANAS.  ...  Bernicla.  11. A. fusca, capite collo pectoreque nigris, collari albo.  Anas capite colloque nigris. Fn. svec. 91.  Branta s. Bernicla. Gesn. av. 110. Aldr. orn. l. 19. c. 23. Jonst. av. t. 49. Will. orn. 274. 275. t. 10. Raj. av. 137. Valent. mus. 495. Alb. av. I. p. 89. t. 93.  Habitat in Europa boreali; migrat supra Sveciam." (Linnaeus 1758) (Branta).

Brant (Atlantic)
SCI Name: Branta bernicla hrota
hrota
Old Icelandic name Hrot gaes  snore goose  < hrota  snoring, for the Barnacle Goose; ex “Hrota” of Olafsen & Povelsen 1772 (subsp. Branta bernicla).

Brant (Black)
SCI Name: Branta bernicla nigricans
nigricans
L. nigricans, nigricantis  blackish, swarthy  < nigrare  to be black  < niger  black.
● ex “Suirirí chorrendo” of de Azara 1802-1805, no. 182 (syn. Hymenops perspicillata).
● ex “Ypacahá obscuro” of de Azara 1802-1805, no. 371 (Pardirallus).
● ex “Brunoir” of Levaillant 1802, pl. 106, fig. 1 (Pycnonotus).
● ex “Tachurí obscurito menor” of de Azara 1802-1805, no. 167 (Ridgwayornis).