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Laridae is a
The family Laridae was introduced (as Laridia) by the French
*Genus ''
*Genus '' Rynchops'' (3 species)
The Laridae have spread around the world, and their adaptability has likely been a factor. Most have become much more aerial than their ancestor, which was likely some form of shorebird.
family
Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...
of seabird
Seabirds (also known as marine birds) are birds that are adapted to life within the marine environment. While seabirds vary greatly in lifestyle, behaviour and physiology, they often exhibit striking convergent evolution, as the same enviro ...
s in the order Charadriiformes
Charadriiformes (, from ''Charadrius'', the type genus of family Charadriidae) is a diverse order of small to medium-large birds. It includes about 390 species and has members in all parts of the world. Most charadriiform birds live near water an ...
that includes the gull
Gulls, or colloquially seagulls, are seabirds of the family Laridae in the suborder Lari. They are most closely related to the terns and skimmers and only distantly related to auks, and even more distantly to waders. Until the 21st century ...
s, tern
Terns are seabirds in the family Laridae that have a worldwide distribution and are normally found near the sea, rivers, or wetlands. Terns are treated as a subgroup of the family Laridae which includes gulls and skimmers and consists of e ...
s, skimmers and kittiwake
The kittiwakes (genus ''Rissa'') are two closely related seabird species in the gull family Laridae, the black-legged kittiwake (''Rissa tridactyla'') and the red-legged kittiwake (''Rissa brevirostris''). The epithets "black-legged" and "red-l ...
s. It includes around 100 species
In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...
arranged into 22 genera. They are an adaptable group of mostly aerial birds found worldwide.
Taxonomy
The family Laridae was introduced (as Laridia) by the French polymath
A polymath ( el, πολυμαθής, , "having learned much"; la, homo universalis, "universal human") is an individual whose knowledge spans a substantial number of subjects, known to draw on complex bodies of knowledge to solve specific pro ...
Constantine Samuel Rafinesque in 1815. Historically, Laridae were restricted to the gull
Gulls, or colloquially seagulls, are seabirds of the family Laridae in the suborder Lari. They are most closely related to the terns and skimmers and only distantly related to auks, and even more distantly to waders. Until the 21st century ...
s, while the tern
Terns are seabirds in the family Laridae that have a worldwide distribution and are normally found near the sea, rivers, or wetlands. Terns are treated as a subgroup of the family Laridae which includes gulls and skimmers and consists of e ...
s were placed in a separate family, Sternidae, and the skimmers in a third family, Rynchopidae. The noddies were traditionally included in Sternidae. In 1990 Charles Sibley and Jon Ahlquist included auks
An auk or alcid is a bird of the family Alcidae in the order Charadriiformes. The alcid family includes the murres, guillemots, auklets, puffins, and murrelets. The word "auk" is derived from Icelandic ''álka'', from Old Norse ''alka'' (a ...
and skuas
The skuas are a group of predatory seabirds with seven species forming the genus ''Stercorarius'', the only genus in the family Stercorariidae. The three smaller skuas, the long-tailed skua, the Arctic skua, and the pomarine skua are called jae ...
in a broader family Laridae.
A molecular phylogenetic study by Baker and colleagues published in 2007 found that the noddies in the genus ''Anous
The noddies, forming the genus ''Anous'', is a genus of seabirds in family Laridae which also contains the gulls, terns and skimmers. The genus contains five species.
The noddies inhabit tropical oceans and have a worldwide distribution, rangin ...
'' formed a sister group to a clade containing the gulls, skimmers and the other terns. To create a monophyletic family group, Laridae was expanded to include the genera that had previously been in Sternidae and Rynchopidae.
Baker and colleagues found that the Laridae lineage diverged from a lineage that gave rise to both the skuas ( Stercorariidae) and auks (Alcidae
An auk or alcid is a bird of the family Alcidae in the order Charadriiformes. The alcid family includes the murres, guillemots, auklets, puffins, and murrelets. The word "auk" is derived from Icelandic ''álka'', from Old Norse ''alka'' (a ...
) before the end of the Cretaceous
The Cretaceous ( ) is a geological period that lasted from about 145 to 66 million years ago (Mya). It is the third and final period of the Mesozoic Era, as well as the longest. At around 79 million years, it is the longest geological period of ...
in the age of dinosaurs. They also found that the Laridae themselves began expanding in the early Paleocene
The Paleocene, ( ) or Palaeocene, is a geological epoch that lasted from about 66 to 56 million years ago (mya). It is the first epoch of the Paleogene Period in the modern Cenozoic Era. The name is a combination of the Ancient Greek ''pal ...
, around 60 million years ago. The German palaeontologist Gerald Mayr
Gerald Mayr is a German palaeontologist who is Curator of Ornithology at the Senckenberg Research Institute in Frankfurt am Main, Hesse. He has published extensively on fossil birds, especially the Paleogene avifauna of Europe. He is an expert on ...
has questioned the validity of these early dates and suggested that inappropriate fossils were used in calibrating the molecular data. The earliest charadriiform fossils date only from the late Eocene
The Eocene ( ) Epoch is a geological epoch that lasted from about 56 to 33.9 million years ago (mya). It is the second epoch of the Paleogene Period in the modern Cenozoic Era. The name ''Eocene'' comes from the Ancient Greek (''ēṓs'', " ...
, around 35 million years ago.
Anders Ödeen and colleagues investigated the development of ultraviolet vision in shorebirds, by looking for the SWS1 opsin gene in various species; as gulls were the only shorebirds known to have developed the trait. They discovered that the gene was present in the gull, skimmer and noddy lineages but not the tern lineage. They also recovered the noddies as an early lineage, though the evidence was not strong.
For the complete list of species, see the article List of Laridae species.
Anous
The noddies, forming the genus ''Anous'', is a genus of seabirds in family Laridae which also contains the gulls, terns and skimmers. The genus contains five species.
The noddies inhabit tropical oceans and have a worldwide distribution, rangin ...
'' (5 species)
*Genus ''Gygis'' (white tern
The white tern or common white tern (''Gygis alba'') is a small seabird found across the tropical oceans of the world. It is sometimes known as the fairy tern, although this name is potentially confusing as it is also the common name of '' Sternu ...
)
Gull
Gulls, or colloquially seagulls, are seabirds of the family Laridae in the suborder Lari. They are most closely related to the terns and skimmers and only distantly related to auks, and even more distantly to waders. Until the 21st century ...
s
*Genus ''Creagrus'' (swallow-tailed gull
The swallow-tailed gull (''Creagrus furcatus'') is an equatorial seabird in the gull family, Laridae. It is the only species in the genus ''Creagrus'', which derives from the Latin ''Creagra'' and the Greek ''kreourgos'' which means butcher, al ...
)
*Genus '' Rissa'' (kittiwakes) (2 species)
*Genus ''Pagophila'' ( ivory gull)
*Genus ''Xema'' (Sabine's gull
Sabine's gull ( ) (''Xema sabini'') also known as the fork-tailed gull or xeme, is a small gull. It is the only species placed in the genus ''Xema''. It breeds in colonies on coasts and tundra, laying two or three spotted olive-brown eggs in a gr ...
)
*Genus ''Chroicocephalus
''Chroicocephalus'' is a genus of medium to relatively small gulls which were included in the genus '' Larus'' until recently. Some authorities also include the Saunders's gull in ''Chroicocephalus''. The genus name '' Chroicocephalus'' is from ...
'' (11 species)
*Genus ''Hydrocoloeus'' (little gull
The little gull (''Hydrocoloeus minutus'' or ''Larus minutus''), is a small gull that breeds in northern Europe and across the Palearctic. The genus name ''Hydrocoloeus'' is from Ancient Greek , "water", and , a sort of web-footed bird. The speci ...
)
*Genus ''Rhodostethia'' (Ross's gull
Ross's gull (''Rhodostethia rosea'') is a small gull, the only species in its genus, although it has been suggested it should be moved to the genus '' Hydrocoloeus'', which otherwise only includes the little gull.
This bird is named after the B ...
)
*Genus ''Leucophaeus
''Leucophaeus'' is a small genus of medium-sized New World gulls, most of which are dark in plumage, usually with white crescents above and below the eyes. They were placed in the genus ''Larus'' until recently. The genus name ''Leucophaeus'' is ...
'' (5 species)
*Genus ''Ichthyaetus
''Ichthyaetus'' is a genus of gulls. The genus name is from Ancient Greek ''ikhthus'', "fish", and ''aetos'', "eagle". They were previously included in the genus ''Larus''.Pons J.M., Hassanin, A., and Crochet P.A.(2005). ''Phylogenetic relationsh ...
'' (6 species)
*Genus ''Larus
''Larus'' is a large genus of gulls with worldwide distribution (by far the greatest species diversity is in the Northern Hemisphere).
Many of its species are abundant and well-known birds in their ranges. Until about 2005–2007, most gulls ...
'' (24 species)
Tern
Terns are seabirds in the family Laridae that have a worldwide distribution and are normally found near the sea, rivers, or wetlands. Terns are treated as a subgroup of the family Laridae which includes gulls and skimmers and consists of e ...
s
*Genus '' Gelochelidon'' (2 species)
*Genus ''Hydroprogne'' (Caspian tern
The Caspian tern (''Hydroprogne caspia'') is a species of tern, with a subcosmopolitan but scattered distribution. Despite its extensive range, it is monotypic of its genus, and has no accepted subspecies. The genus name is from Ancient Greek ' ...
)
*Genus ''Thalasseus
''Thalasseus'', the crested terns, is a genus of eight species of terns in the family Laridae.
It has a worldwide distribution, and many of its species are abundant and well-known birds in their ranges. This genus had originally been created ...
'' (8 species)
*Genus ''Sternula
''Sternula'' is a genus of small white tern
Terns are seabirds in the family Laridae that have a worldwide distribution and are normally found near the sea, rivers, or wetlands. Terns are treated as a subgroup of the family Laridae whi ...
'' (7 species)
*Genus ''Onychoprion
''Onychoprion'', the "brown-backed terns", is a genus of seabirds in the family Laridae. The genus name is from Ancient Greek , "claw" or "nail", and , "saw".
Species
Although the genus was first described in 1832 by Johann Georg Wagler the four ...
'' (4 species)
*Genus ''Sterna
''Sterna'' is a genus of terns in the bird family Laridae. The genus used to encompass most "white" terns indiscriminately, but mtDNA sequence comparisons have recently determined that this arrangement is paraphyletic. It is now restricted to t ...
'' (13 species)
*Genus ''Chlidonias
The name marsh tern refers to terns of the genus ''Chlidonias'', which are typically found in freshwater marshes, rather than coastal locations. The genus name ''Chlidonias'' is from Ancient Greek , "swallow-like", from , " swallow".
Species
T ...
'' (4 species)
*Genus ''Phaetusa'' (large-billed tern
The large-billed tern (''Phaetusa simplex'') is a species of tern in the family Laridae. It is placed the monotypic genus ''Phaetusa''. It is found in most of South America (east of the Andes and north of the Pampas). It has occurred as a vagrant ...
)
*Genus ''Larosterna'' (Inca tern
The Inca tern (''Larosterna inca'') is a tern in the family Laridae. It is the only member of the genus ''Larosterna''.
This uniquely plumaged bird breeds on the coasts of Peru and Chile, and is restricted to the Humboldt Current. In 2021 a si ...
)
Distribution and habitat
The Laridae have spread around the world, and their adaptability has likely been a factor. Most have become much more aerial than their ancestor, which was likely some form of shorebird.
Notes
References
Further reading
* Grant, Peter J. (1986) ''Gulls: a guide to identification'' * Howell, Steve N. G. and Jon Dunn (2007) ''Gulls of the Americas'' * Olsen, Klaus Malling & Larsson, Hans (1995): ''Terns of Europe and North America''.Christopher Helm
Christopher Alexander Roger Helm (born Dundee, 1 February 1937 – 20 January 2007) was a Scottish book publisher, notably of ornithology related titles, including the '' Helm Identification Guides''.
Born in Dundee, he was raised in Forfar ...
, London.
External links
* * {{Authority control Seabirds Bird families Taxa named by Constantine Samuel Rafinesque