The Key to Scientific Names
- Exanthemops
(Anatidae; syn. Anser † Ross's Goose A. rossii) Gr. εξανθημα exanthēma pustule < εξανθεω exantheō to burst forth; ωψ ōps, ωπος ōpos face; "EXANTHEMOPS ROSSII. ROSS' SNOW GOOSE. ... Horned Wavey ... The bill is not more than an inch long, and, at the base, is studded around with little knobs about the size of peas, but more remarkably so in the males. ... The flesh of this bird is exceedingly delicate; but they are so small that, when I was on my journey to the North, I ate two of them one night for supper. I have employed as a new generic term for this bird, that of Exanthemops, on account of the corrugated skin on the upper mandible; a character entirely wanting in every other Snow Goose, and which alone would serve to distinguish this species from all of them, were there no other differences existing." (Elliot 1868); "Exanthemops Elliot, Bds. N. Amer., 2, (9), pl. 44, 1868—type, by monotypy, Anser rossii Cassin." (Hellmayr and Conover, 1948, Cat. Birds Americas, Pt. I (2), p. 287).
Var. Exantemops, Hexanthemops.
