A mitochondrial DNA study indicates that the Chinese domestic duck originated from the wild duck (mallard), with a possible contribution from the spot-billed duck (Anas zonorhyncha), although its origins remain debated among researchers.
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In NAKTASHIF worlds:Gardens, farms and human-associated habitats
Approved version OWNER-REVIEW-20261108T091112125 · last approved 8 November 2026
Names from folk tradition, kept apart from the scientific names.
A mitochondrial DNA study indicates that the Chinese domestic duck originated from the wild duck (mallard), with a possible contribution from the spot-billed duck (Anas zonorhyncha), although its origins remain debated among researchers.
The domestic duck is raised for its meat, eggs and down, and almost all of its breeds descend from the wild duck known as the mallard (Anas platyrhynchos); most of its domestic breeds arose from it about 2,200–2,500 years ago.
In Arabic, al-baṭṭ (ducks) are water birds; the singular is baṭṭa, and its final -a does not mark the feminine but denotes a single member of the kind, so baṭṭa is said of both male and female, like ḥamāma (pigeon) and dajāja (chicken); al-baṭbaṭa is the sound of ducks.