Шағалалар туысы

Genus of birds

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 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 (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 bills and webbed feet. The taxonomy of the large gulls in the herring and lesser black backed complex is very complicated, with different authorities recognising between two and eight species.

The genus Larus was introduced in 1758 by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in the tenth edition of his Systema Naturae. 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).

The genus contains 25 extant species. Image Common Name Scientific name DistributionPacific gull L. pacificus Australia. Belcher's gull L. belcherithe Pacific coast of South America. Olrog's gull L. atlanticusAtlantic coast of southern Brazil, Uruguay, and northern Argentina. Black tailed gull L. crassirostriscoastlines of the East China Sea, Japan, Manchuria and the Kuril Islands, to Alaska and North AmericaHeermann's gull L. heermanni the United States, Mexico and extreme southwestern British ColumbiaCommon gull or mew gull L. canusthe Palearctic, northern Europe Short billed gullL. brachyrhynchusnorthwestern North AmericaRing billed gull L. delawarensis Canada and the northern United StatesCalifornia gull L. californicuswestern North America from the Northwest Territories, Canada south to eastern California and Colorado. Great black backed gull L. marinusEuropean and North American coasts and islands of the North AtlanticKelp gull (called southern black backed gull or karoro in New Zealand) L. dominicanusSouth America, parts of Australia, and New ZealandGlaucous winged gull L. glaucescenswestern coast of Alaska to the coast of Washington, coast of California, Oregon, Baja California, Baja California Sur, and SonoraWestern gull L. occidentalis from British Columbia, Canada to Baja California, Mexico. Yellow footed gull L. livens Gulf of California in MexicoGlaucous gull L. hyperboreus North Atlantic and North Pacific Oceans as far south as the British Isles and northernmost states of the United States, also on the Great Lakes. Iceland gull L. glaucoides Canada and GreenlandEuropean herring gull L. argentatusshores of Western EuropeAmerican herring gull L. smithsonianus North America from central and southern Alaska to the Great Lakes and north east coast of the United States from Maine south to North Carolina. Yellow legged gull L. michahellisMediterranean Sea. Caspian gull L. cachinnans Black and Caspian Seas, extending eastwards across Central Asia to north west China. Vega gull (or East Siberian gull) L. vegaenortheastern Siberia and winter in Japan, Korea, southern and eastern China, and Taiwan. Armenian gull L. armenicusthe Caucasus and the Middle EastSlaty backed gull L. schistisagusthe north eastern coast of the PalearcticLesser black backed gull L. fuscus Atlantic coasts of EuropeWhite eyed gullL. leucophthalmusSiyal Islands, in the Red Sea

Fossils of Larus gulls are known from the Middle Miocene, about 20 15 million years ago; allocation of earlier fossils to this genus is generally rejected. Biogeography 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)
Larus sp. (Late? Miocene/Early Pliocene of Lee Creek Mine, U. S.) several species

sensu strictoThe 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, can hybridize with the American 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 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.