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Pygmy geese are a group of very small "" in the genus Nettapus which breed in the Old World tropics. They are the smallest of all Anseriformes. As the "perching ducks" are a paraphyletic group, they need to be placed elsewhere. The initially assumed relationship with the dabbling duck subfamily Anatinae has been questioned, and it appears they form a lineage in an ancient radiation of waterfowl, within which they are of unclear affinities. An undescribed fossil species from the late Hemphillian (5.0–4.1 mya) of Jalisco, central Mexico, has also been identified from the distal end of a tarsometatarsus. It is only record of the genus in the New World.
The genus Nettapus was erected by the German naturalist Johann Friedrich von Brandt in 1836. The name is from Ancient Greek nētta meaning "duck" and pous meaning "foot". It was thought that the type species, the African pygmy goose ( Nettapus auritus), possessed the feet and body of a duck and the neck of a goose.
There are three extant taxon species in the genus:
| Sub-Saharan Africa |
| northern Australasia and Southeast Asia |
| northern Australia and southern New Guinea |
Pygmy geese have short bills, rounded heads and short legs. They nest in tree holes.
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