''Larus'' is a large genus of gulls with worldwide distribution (by far the greatest species diversity is in the

Northern Hemisphere The Northern Hemisphere is the half of Earth that is north of the Equator. For other planets in the Solar System, north is defined as being in the same celestial hemisphere relative to the invariable plane of the solar system as Earth's Nort ...

). Many of its species are abundant and well-known birds in their ranges. Until about 2005–2007, most gulls were placed in this genus, but this arrangement is now known to be polyphyletic, leading to the resurrection of the genera '' Ichthyaetus'', '' Chroicocephalus'', '' Leucophaeus'', and ''

Hydrocoloeus 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 ...

'' (this last had been recognized more often than the other genera) for several species traditionally included in ''Larus''. They are in general medium to large birds, typically grey or white, often with black markings on their heads or wings. They have stout, longish

bill Bill(s) may refer to: Common meanings * Banknote, paper cash (especially in the United States) * Bill (law), a proposed law put before a legislature * Invoice, commercial document issued by a seller to a buyer * Bill, a bird or animal's beak Plac ...

s and webbed feet. The taxonomy of the large gulls in the

herring Herring are forage fish, mostly belonging to the family of Clupeidae. Herring often move in large schools around fishing banks and near the coast, found particularly in shallow, temperate waters of the North Pacific and North Atlantic Oceans, i ...

and lesser black-backed complex is very complicated, with different authorities recognising between two and eight species.

Taxonomy

The genus ''Larus'' was introduced in 1758 by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in the tenth edition of his ''

Systema Naturae ' (originally in Latin written ' with the ligature æ) is one of the major works of the Swedish botanist, zoologist and physician Carl Linnaeus (1707–1778) and introduced the Linnaean taxonomy. Although the system, now known as binomial nomen ...

''. The genus name is from Ancient Greek ''laros'' (λάῥος) or Latin ''larus'', which appears to have referred to a gull or other large seabird. The type species is the great black-backed gull (''Larus marinus'').

Species

The genus contains 24 species.

Fossils

Fossils of ''Larus'' gulls are known from the

Middle Miocene The Middle Miocene is a sub-epoch of the Miocene Epoch made up of two stages: the Langhian and Serravallian stages. The Middle Miocene is preceded by the Early Miocene. The sub-epoch lasted from 15.97 ± 0.05 Ma to 11.608 ± 0.005 Ma (million y ...

, about 20-15 million years ago; allocation of earlier fossils to this genus is generally rejected.

Biogeography Biogeography is the study of the distribution of species and ecosystems in geographic space and through geological time. Organisms and biological communities often vary in a regular fashion along geographic gradients of latitude, elevation, ...

of the fossil record suggests that the genus evolved in the northern Atlantic and spread globally during the Pliocene, when species diversity seems to have been highest, as with most seabirds. *''Larus'' sp. (Middle Miocene of Grund, Austria) *''Larus'' sp. (Middle Miocene of Romania) Olson, Storrs L. (1985): Section X.D.2.j. Laridae. ''In:'' Farner, D.S.; King, J.R. & Parkes, Kenneth C. (eds.): ''Avian Biology'' 8: 181-182. Academic Press, New York. *''Larus'' sp. (Late? Miocene/Early Pliocene of

Lee Creek Mine Lee may refer to: Name Given name * Lee (given name), a given name in English Surname * Chinese surnames romanized as Li or Lee: ** Li (surname 李) or Lee (Hanzi ), a common Chinese surname ** Li (surname 利) or Lee (Hanzi ), a Chinese ...

, U.S.) - several species *''Larus elmorei'' (Early/Middle Pliocene of Bone Valley, southeastern U.S.) *''Larus lacus'' ( Late Pliocene of Pinecrest, southeastern U.S.) *''Larus perpetuus'' (Late Pliocene of Pinecrest, southeastern U.S.) *''Larus'' sp. (San Diego Late Pliocene of the southwestern U.S.) *''Larus oregonus'' (Late Pliocene - Late Pleistocene of the west-central U.S.) *''Larus robustus'' (Late Pliocene - Late Pleistocene of the west-central U.S.) *''Larus'' sp. (Late Pleistocene of Lake Manix western U.S.) ''"Larus" raemdonckii'' (Early Oligocene of Belgium) is now at least tentatively believed to belong in the

procellariiform Procellariiformes is an order of seabirds that comprises four families: the albatrosses, the petrels and shearwaters, and two families of storm petrels. Formerly called Tubinares and still called tubenoses in English, procellariiforms are oft ...

genus '' Puffinus''. ''"L." elegans'' (Late Oligocene?/Early Miocene of St-Gérand-le-Puy, France) and ''"L." totanoides'' (Late Oligocene?/Early Miocene of southeastern France) are now in '' Laricola'', while ''"L." dolnicensis'' (Early Miocene of the Czech Republic) was actually a pratincole; it is now placed in '' Mioglareola''. The Early Miocene ''"Larus" desnoyersii'' (southeastern France) and ''"L." pristinus'' (John Day Formation, Willow Creek, U.S.) probably do not belong in this genus; the former may be a skua.(Olson, 1985).

Ring species

The circumpolar group of ''Larus'' gull species has often been cited as a classic example of the ring species. The range of these gulls forms a ring around the North Pole. The European herring gull, which lives primarily in Great Britain and

Northern Europe The northern region of Europe has several definitions. A restrictive definition may describe Northern Europe as being roughly north of the southern coast of the Baltic Sea, which is about 54th parallel north, 54°N, or may be based on other g ...

, can

hybridize Hybridization (or hybridisation) may refer to: *Hybridization (biology), the process of combining different varieties of organisms to create a hybrid *Orbital hybridization, in chemistry, the mixing of atomic orbitals into new hybrid orbitals *Nu ...

with the

American herring gull The American herring gull or Smithsonian gull (''Larus smithsonianus'' or ''Larus argentatus smithsonianus'') is a large gull that breeds in North America, where it is treated by the American Ornithological Society as a subspecies of herring gull ...

(living in North America), which can also interbreed with the Vega or East Siberian gull, the western subspecies of which, Birula's gull, can hybridize with

Heuglin's gull Heuglin's gull (''Larus fuscus heuglini'') or the Siberian gull, is a seabird in the genus ''Larus''. Taxonomy It is sometimes considered as a separate species (''Larus heuglini'') but is now usually treated as a subspecies of the lesser black- ...

which, in turn, can interbreed with the Siberian lesser black-backed gull (all four of these live across the north of Siberia). The last is the eastern representative of the lesser black-backed gulls back in northwestern Europe, including Great Britain. However, the lesser black-backed gulls and herring gull are sufficiently different that they rarely interbreed; thus, the group of gulls forms a continuum except in Europe, where the two lineages meet. However, a recent genetic study has shown that this example is far more complicated than presented here, and probably does not constitute a true ring species.Supplemental material: Electronic appendices
/ref>

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1887740 Bird genera Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus

Taxonomy

Species

Fossils

Ring species

See also

References