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Belongs within: Anserinae.
The genus Anser contains the grey and white geese, including the domestic goose. Anser species generally have uniform grey, brown or white body coloration with pink, orange or yellow bills and/or legs. Most domestic goose breeds are derived from the greylag goose Anser anser, except for the Chinese goose which is derived from the swan goose A. cygnoides. The swan goose is native to China and is distinguished from other geese by its contrasting head coloration with dark brown crown and nape but pale lower part of head and throat. The greylag goose is found across Europe and northern Asia, with populations migrating into southern Asia during the non-breeding period; wild individuals are uniformly grey brown with a pink bill and legs, and pale upperwing-coverts that are visible in flight. The white-fronted goose A. albifrons, which breeds on the Arctic coasts of Eurasia and North America, is smaller than the greylag goose and possesses a distinctive white bar on the forehead and base of the bill.
<==Anser Brisson 1760CC10 [incl. Anseria Rafinesque 1815 (n. n.)B94, Cygnopsis Brandt 1836B94] | i. s.: A. brumeli Milne-Edwards 1871M02 | A. caerulescens (Linnaeus 1758)CC10 (see below for synonymy) | |--A. c. caerulescensCS77 (see below for synonymy) | |--A. c. atlanticus (Kennard 1927)CS77 | `--‘Chen hyperborea’ nivalis (Forster 1895) [=Anser nivalis, C. hyperboreus nivalis]S05 | A. scaldii Beneden ex Lambrecht 1933 [=Anas scaldii]M02 | A. thraceiensis Burčak-Abramovič & Nikolov 1984M02 |--A. canagicus (Sevastianoff 1800)PJ02, S05 [=Anas canagicaS05, Anser (Philacte) canagicusS05, Philacte canagicaS05] `--+--A. indicus (Latham 1790)BKB15, CS77 `--+--A. brachyrhynchus Baillon 1833BKB15, CS77 [=A. fabalis brachyrhynchusFP64, A. segetum var. brachyrhynchusS05] `--+--+--A. erythropus (Linnaeus 1758)BKB15, CS77 (see below for synonymy) | `--A. fabalis (Latham 1787)BKB15, CS77 (see below for synonymy) | |--A. f. fabalisCS77 | |--A. f. johanseni Delacour 1951CS77 | |--A. f. middendorffii Severtsov 1872CS77 | |--A. f. rossicus Buturlin 1933CS77 | `--A. f. serrirostris Swinhoe 1871CS77 `--+--A. albifrons (Scopoli 1769)BKB15, CS77 [=Branta albifronsCS77, Anas albifronsJ23] | |--A. a. albifronsCS77 [incl. A. bruchiiM05] | |--A. a. elgasi Delacour & Ripley 1975CS77 | |--A. a. flavirostris Dalgety & Scott 1948CS77 | |--A. a. frontalis Baird 1858CS77 | `--A. a. gambelli Hartlaub 1852CS77 `--+--A. anser (Linnaeus 1758)BKB15, CC10 (see below for synonymy) | |--A. a. anser [incl. A. anser sylvestris]CS77 | `--A. a. rubrirostris Swinhoe 1871CS77 `--A. cygnoides (Linnaeus 1758)BKB15, I92 [=Cygnopsis cygnoidesRN72]
Anser anser (Linnaeus 1758)BKB15, CC10 [=Anas anserCC10; incl. Anser cinereus Meyer 1810CC10, Anser anser cinereusL81, *Anser domesticusCC10, Anser anser ferus Brünnich 1764CC10]
Anser caerulescens (Linnaeus 1758)CC10 [=Anas caerulescensCC10; incl. Anser hyperboreus Pallas 1769CC10, Chen hyperboreaS05, C. hyperboreusCC10]
Anser caerulescens caerulescens (Linnaeus 1758)CC10 [incl. Chen hyperboreus albatus Murdoch 1885S05, Anser hyperboreus Pallas 1769CS77, Anas hyperboreaJ23, Anser caerulescens hyperboreaL81]
Anser erythropus (Linnaeus 1758)BKB15, CS77 [=Anas erythropusCS77, Anser albifrons erythropusS05; incl. Anser minutusS05]
Anser fabalis (Latham 1787)BKB15, CS77 [=Anas fabalisCS77; incl. Anser carneirostris Buturlin 1901CS77, Anser neglectus Sushkin 1895CS77, Anser rufescens Smirnow 1901S05, Anser segetum Heuglin 1874S05]
*Type species of generic name indicated
References
[B94] Bock, W. J. 1994. History and nomenclature of avian family-group names. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 222: 1–281.
[BKB15] Burleigh, J. G., R. T. Kimball & E. L. Braun. 2015. Building the avian tree of life using a large-scale, sparse supermatrix. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 84: 53–63.
[CC10] Checklist Committee (OSNZ). 2010. Checklist of the Birds of New Zealand, Norfolk and Macquarie Islands, and the Ross Dependency, Antarctica 4th ed. Ornithological Society of New Zealand and Te Papa Press: Wellington.
[CS77] Cramp, S., & K. E. L. Simmons (eds) 1977. Handbook of the Birds of Europe, the Middle East and North Africa: The Birds of the Western Palaearctic vol. 1. Ostrich to Ducks. Oxford University Press: Oxford.
[FP64] Fisher, J., & R. T. Peterson. 1964. The World of Birds: A comprehensive guide to general ornithology. Macdonald: London.
[I92] Iwahashi, J. (ed.) 1992. Reddo Deeta Animaruzu: a pictorial of Japanese fauna facing extinction. JICC: Tokyo.
[J23] James, E. 1823. Account of an Expedition from Pittsburgh to the Rocky Mountains, performed in the years 1819 and ’20, by order of the Hon. J. C. Calhoun, sec’y of war: under the command of Major Stephen H. Long. From the notes of Major Long, Mr. T. Say, and other gentlemen of the exploring party vol. 1. H. C. Carey & I. Lea: Philadelphia.
[L81] Long, J. L. 1981. Introduced Birds of the World: The worldwide history, distribution and influence of birds introduced to new environments. Reed: Sydney.
[M02] Mlíkovský, J. 2002. Cenozoic Birds of the World. Part 1: Europe. Ninox Press: Praha.
[M05] Möller, R. 2005. Zur Biographie des Ornithologen Karl Friedrich Bruch (1789–1857). Mauritiana 19 (2): 327–357.
[PJ02] Paxinos, E. E., H. F. James, S. L. Olson, M. D. Sorenson, J. Jackson & R. C. Fleischer. 2002. MtDNA from fossils reveals a radiation of Hawaiian geese recently derived from the Canada goose (Branta canadensis). Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA 99: 1399–1404.
[RN72] Rutgers, A., & K. A. Norris (eds.) 1972. Encyclopaedia of Aviculture vol. 1. Blandford Press: London.
[S05] Schalow, H. 1905. Die Vögel der Arktis. In: Römer, F., & F. Schaudinn (eds) Fauna Arctica. Eine Zusammenstellun der arktischen Tierformen, mit besonder Berücksichtigung des Spitzbergen-Gebietes auf Grund der Ergebnisse der Deutschen Expedition in das Nördliche Eismeer im Jahre 1898 vol. 4 pp. 79–288. Gustav Fischer: Jena.