Jacanidae

The family Jacanidae was introduced in 1854 by the French naturalists Jean-Charles Chenu and Marc des Murs. They used the spelling "Jacaneinae".{{Cite book |last=Chenu |first=J.-C. |author-link=Jean-Charles Chenu |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/47982267 |title=Encyclopédie d'Histoire Naturelle: Oiseaux |last2=Des Murs |first2=M.A.P.O. |author-link2=Marc Athanase Parfait Œillet des Murs |date=1854 |publisher=Chez Maresgq |volume=6 |location=Paris |page=238}} For the publication date see: {{ cite book | last1=Dickinson | first1=E.C. | author1-link=Edward C. Dickinson | last2=Overstreet | first2=L.K. | last3=Dowsett | first3=R.J. | last4=Bruce | first4=M.D. | year=2011 | title=Priority! The Dating of Scientific Names in Ornithology: a Directory to the literature and its reviewers | location=Northampton, UK | publisher=Aves Press | isbn=978-0-9568611-1-5 | pages=83–84 | url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/267763194 }}{{Cite book |last=Bock |first=Walter J. |author-link=Walter Joseph Bock |url=http://digitallibrary.amnh.org/handle/2246/830 |title=History and Nomenclature of Avian Family-Group Names |publisher=American Museum of Natural History |year=1994 |series=Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History |volume=222 |location=New York |pages=112, 137, 232 |hdl=2246/830}} The modern spelling "Jacanidae" was used by Leonhard Stejneger in 1885.{{Cite journal |last=Stejneger |first=Leonhard |author-link=Leonhard Hess Stejneger |date=1885 |title=Analecta Ornithologica: Sixth Series. XXIX. Jacan contra Parra |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/part/86911 |journal=The Auk |volume=2 |issue=4 |pages=337–343 [338] |doi=10.2307/4625293 |jstor=4625293}}

The pronunciation of the word jacana is debated. Jacana is Linnæus' scientific Latin spelling of the Portuguese jaçanã which in turn is derived from a Tupi name of the bird, ñaha'nã.{{Cite book |last=Ferreira |first=A. B. H. |title=Novo Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa |publisher=Nova Fronteira |year=1986 |edition=Second |location=Rio de Janeiro |page=978}} The Portuguese word is pronounced approximately {{IPA|pt|ʒɐsɐˈnɐ̃|}}. As in façade, Provençal, and araçari, the Ç is meant to be pronounced as an S. US dictionaries give various pronunciations: {{IPAc-en|ˌ|ʒ|ɑː|s|ə|ˈ|n|ɑː}} {{respell|ZHAH|sə|NAH|'}},{{Cite web |year=2009 |title=American Heritage Dictionary |url=http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/jacana |access-date=August 13, 2009 |edition=Fourth}}{{Cite web |year=2009 |title=dictionary.com Unabridged. Based on the Random House Dictionary |url=http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/jacana |access-date=August 13, 2009}} {{IPAc-en|ˌ|dʒ|ɑː|s|ə|ˈ|n|ɑː}} {{respell|JAH|sə|NAH|'}}, as well as the anglicised {{IPAc-en|dʒ|ə|ˈ|k|ɑː|n|ə}} {{respell|jə|KAH|nə}},{{Cite web |title=jacana – definition from the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary |url=http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/jacana |access-date=August 13, 2009}} which is the only pronunciation in an Australian dictionary.{{Cite web |year=2009 |title=The Macquarie Dictionary Online |url=http://www.macquariedictionary.com.au |access-date=August 13, 2009 |publisher=Macquarie Dictionary Publishers Pty Ltd.}}. Subscription required. A British dictionary gives {{IPAc-en|ˈ|dʒ|æ|k|ən|ə}} {{respell|JAK|ə-nə}} for the spelling "jacana" and {{IPAc-en|ʒ|æ|s|ə|ˈ|n|ɑː}} {{respell|zhass-ə|NAH|'}} for "jaçana".{{Cite book|title=The New Shorter Oxford English Dictionary|publisher=Clarendon Press|year=1993}} and {{Cite web |title=Definition of jacana in English |url=http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/jacana?q=ja%C3%A7ana |website=Language Matters |publisher=Oxford Dictionaries}}{{Dead link|date=February 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}

{{cladogram|title=Relationships of the Jacanidae{{cite journal|doi=10.1186/1471-2148-7-35|pmid=17346347|pmc=1838420|title=Multilocus perspectives on the monophyly and phylogeny of the order Charadriiformes (Aves)|journal=BMC Evolutionary Biology|volume=7|pages=35|year=2007|last1=Fain|first1=Matthew G.|last2=Houde|first2=Peter |issue=1 |doi-access=free |bibcode=2007BMCEE...7...35F }}{{cite journal|doi=10.1016/j.ympev.2012.03.008|pmid=22491071|title=Multiple gene sequences resolve phylogenetic relationships in the shorebird suborder Scolopaci (Aves: Charadriiformes)|journal=Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution|volume=64|issue=1|pages=66–72|year=2012|last1=Gibson|first1=Rosemary|last2=Baker|first2=Allan|bibcode=2012MolPE..64...66G }}

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Eight species of extant jacana are known from six genera and four fossil species have been described from the Oligocene of Egypt {{cite book|url=https://repository.si.edu/bitstream/handle/10088/1984/SCtP-0062-Lo_res.pdf?sequence=2&isAllowed=y|title=Fossil Birds from the Oligocene Jebel Qatrani Formation, Fayum Province, Egypt|author1=Rasmussen, D.T.|author2=Olson, Storrs L.|author3=Simons, Elwyn L.|publisher=Smithsonian Institution|year=1987|place=Washington, D.C.|pages=7–8}} and from the Pliocene of Florida.{{cite journal|last=Olson|first=Storrs|year=1976|title=A jacana from the Pliocene of Florida (Aves: Jacanidae)|journal=Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington|volume=89|issue=19|pages=259–264|url=http://si-pddr.si.edu/dspace/bitstream/10088/1730/1/Jacana_farrandi.pdf|access-date=February 4, 2010|archive-date=November 4, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131104130207/http://si-pddr.si.edu/dspace/bitstream/10088/1730/1/Jacana_farrandi.pdf|url-status=dead}} A fossil from Miocene strata in the Czech Republic was assigned to this family,{{cite journal|last=Mlíkovský|first=Jiří |year=1999|title=A new jacana (Aves: Jacanidae) from the Early Miocene of the Czech Republic |journal=Comptes Rendus de l'Académie des Sciences, Série IIA|volume=328|issue=2|pages=121–123| doi = 10.1016/S1251-8050(99)80007-X |bibcode=1999CRASE.328..121M }} but more recent analysis disputes the placement and moves the species to the Coraciidae.{{cite journal|last=Mourer-Chauviré|first=Cécile|year=1999|title=Systematic position of Nupharanassa bohemica Mlíkovsky, 1999 |journal=Comptes Rendus de l'Académie des Sciences, Série IIA|volume=329|issue=2|pages=149–152 | doi = 10.1016/S1251-8050(99)80217-1|bibcode=1999CRASE.329..149M}}

Jacanas are identifiable by their elongated toes and claws which enable them to walk on floating vegetation in the shallow lakes that are their preferred habitat. They have sharp bills and rounded wings, some with carpal spurs, and many species also have wattles and frontal lappets on their foreheads.{{cite book |editor=Forshaw, Joseph|author= Harrison, Colin J.O.|year=1991|title=Encyclopaedia of Animals: Birds|publisher= Merehurst Press|location=London|page= 108|isbn= 978-1-85391-186-6}} Jacanas were once placed in the family Parridae based on the genus Parra but the family name is now Jacanidae based on the type genus Jacana. The family is placed within the order Charadriiformes under the suborder Scolopaci and is a sister of the Rostratulidae. They have 10 tail feathers unlike most others wader groups which have twelve. They have a rudimentary caecum.{{cite journal|title=The avian cecum: a review| author1=Clench, Mary H.| author2=Mathias, John R.| journal=Wilson Bulletin| volume=107| issue=1| year=1995| pages=93–121 |url=https://sora.unm.edu/sites/default/files/journals/wilson/v107n01/p0093-p0121.pdf}} Most jacanas have five neck vertebrae with the exception of Hydrophasianus chirurgus which has six.{{cite journal|author=Chu, P.C.|year= 1995|title= Phylogenetic reanalysis of Strauch's osteological data set for the Charadriiformes|journal= The Condor |volume=97|issue=1|pages= 174–196|url=https://sora.unm.edu/sites/default/files/journals/condor/v097n01/p0174-p0196.pdf|doi=10.2307/1368995|jstor= 1368995|s2cid= 53558095}}

File:Jacanidae_wing_bones.svg

In terms of sexual size dimorphism, female jacanas are larger than the males but are alike in plumage. The latter, as in some other wader families like the phalaropes, take responsibility for incubation and care of chicks, and most species (with the exception of the monogamous lesser jacana) are polyandrous.{{cite journal|last=Jenni|first=Donald A.|author2=Gerald Collier|year=1972|title=Polyandry in the American Jaçana (Jacana spinosa) |journal=The Auk|volume=89|issue=4|pages=743–765|doi=10.2307/4084107|jstor=4084107|doi-access=free}} They construct relatively flimsy nests on floating vegetation, and lay eggs with dark irregular lines on their shells, providing camouflage amongst water weeds. The eggs are slightly smaller than in comparable species and it has been considered that this may be due to an evolutionary tradeoff given the larger number of clutches that are laid.{{cite journal|doi=10.1034/j.1600-048X.2000.310406.x|title=Do polyandrous shorebirds trade off egg size with egg number?|journal=Journal of Avian Biology|volume=31|issue=4|pages=473–478|year=2000|last1=Ward|first1=David}} Male jacanas brood eggs between the wings and the body. This wing-brooding may be assisted by a special adaptation in the wing bones with either a broadening of the radius or a widening of the gap between the radius and ulna. Young chicks may also be held under the wing and transported to safety by the parent bird in some species.{{cite journal|title=The Jacanid radius and microparra, a neotenic genus| author=Fry, C.H.|journal=Le Gerfaut| volume=73|pages=173–184| year=1983}} Young chicks dive underwater and stay submerged with only their bill out of water. Some adult jacanas also use the same technique. African jacanas go through a simultaneous moult of their flight feathers leading to a period of flightlessness. Their moult is related to their ability to breed opportunistically based on the availability of rains.

Their diet consists mainly of insects and other invertebrates picked from floating vegetation or the water's surface but plant seeds may also be eaten. Wattled jacanas are known to pick ticks off capybaras.{{cite journal|author=Marcus, M.J.| year=1985|title= Feeding associations between capybaras and jacanas: a case of interspecific grooming and possibly mutualism| journal= Ibis|volume=127| issue=2|pages= 240–243|doi= 10.1111/j.1474-919X.1985.tb05058.x}} The stomach contents of jacanas have been found to include algae, as well as plant roots and stems, but it is thought that this may be incidentally ingested along with their invertebrate prey.{{cite book|author1=Jenni, D.A. |author2= Bonan, A.|year=2019|chapter= Jacanas (Jacanidae)|editor1=del Hoyo, J.|editor2= Elliott, A.|editor3= Sargatal, J.|editor4= Christie, D.A. |editor5= de Juana, E. |title=Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive| publisher= Lynx Edicions|place= Barcelona|url=https://www.hbw.com/node/52235 |access-date=2019-03-26 }}

Most species have rounded wings and short tails. The flight tends to be slow and weak. Most species are sedentary, but the pheasant-tailed jacana migrates from the north of its range into peninsular India and southeast Asia.

{{cladogram|align=right|caption=Phylogeny of the extant genera within the Jacanidae based on an analysis of mitochondrial gene sequences{{cite journal|author1=Whittingham, L.A.|author2=Sheldon, F.H.| author3=Emlen, S.T.| journal=The Auk| volume=117| issue=1| pages=22–32| year=2000|url=https://sora.unm.edu/sites/default/files/journals/auk/v117n01/p00022-p00032.pdf|title=Molecular phylogeny of jacanas and its implications for morphologic and biogeographic evolution|doi=10.1642/0004-8038(2000)117[0022:MPOJAI]2.0.CO;2}}

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{{Reflist}}

{{Commons category|Jacanidae}}

• [http://ibc.lynxeds.com/family/jacanas-jacanidae Jacana videos] on the Internet Bird Collection

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Category:Charadrii

Category:Charadriiformes

Category:Shorebirds

Category:Bird families

Category:Extant Rupelian first appearances