''Urile'' is a genus of birds in the family

Phalacrocoracidae Phalacrocoracidae is a family of approximately 40 species of aquatic birds commonly known as cormorants and shags. Several different classifications of the family have been proposed, but in 2021 the IOC adopted a consensus taxonomy of seven gene ...

, commonly known as North Pacific cormorants. It contains 3 extant and 1 recently extinct species, all of which are or were found in the

North Pacific Ocean North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography. Etymology The word ''north'' is ...

. Members of this genus were formerly classified within the genus ''

Phalacrocorax ''Phalacrocorax'' is a genus of fish-eating birds in the cormorant family Phalacrocoracidae. Members of this genus are also known as the Old World cormorants. Taxonomy The genus ''Phalacrocorax'' was introduced by the French zoologist Mathurin ...

''. Based on the results of a

molecular phylogenetic Molecular phylogenetics () is the branch of phylogeny that analyzes genetic, hereditary molecular differences, predominantly in DNA sequences, to gain information on an organism's evolutionary relationships. From these analyses, it is possible to ...

study published in 2014, the genus ''Phalacrocorax'' was split and these species were moved to the resurrected genus ''Urile'' that had been introduced in 1856 by the French naturalist

Charles Lucien Bonaparte Charles Lucien Jules Laurent Bonaparte, 2nd Prince of Canino and Musignano (24 May 1803 – 29 July 1857), was a French naturalist and ornithologist. Lucien and his wife had twelve children, including Cardinal Lucien Bonaparte. Life and career ...

with the

red-faced cormorant The red-faced cormorant (''Urile urile''), red-faced shag or violet shag, is a bird species of the family Phalacrocoracidae. Its range spans from the eastern tip of Hokkaidō in Japan, northern korean peninsula, via the Kuril Islands, the sout ...

as the type species. ''Urile'' is thought to have split from ''Phalacrocorax'' 8.9 - 10.3 million years ago. The genus contains four species, of which one is now extinct.

List of species

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q82980656 Urile Bird genera Taxa named by Charles Lucien Bonaparte