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Laridae

Gulls, Terns, Skimmers

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  Black-headed gull in summer plumage
taxon links [up-->]Larosterna inca [up-->]Chlidonias [up-->]Creagrus furcatus [up-->]Sternula [up-->]Larus [up-->]Gygis alba [up-->]Phaetusa simplex [up-->]Rhodostethia rosea [up-->]Rissa [up-->]Gelochelidon nilotica [up-->]Rynchops [up-->]Procelsterna [up-->]Hydroprogne caspia [up-->]Sterna [up-->]Pagophila eburnea [up-->]Xema sabini [up-->]Anous [down<--]Charadriiformes Interpreting the tree
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This tree diagram shows the relationships between several groups of organisms.

The root of the current tree connects the organisms featured in this tree to their containing group and the rest of the Tree of Life. The basal branching point in the tree represents the ancestor of the other groups in the tree. This ancestor diversified over time into several descendent subgroups, which are represented as internal nodes and terminal taxa to the right.

example of a tree diagram

You can click on the root to travel down the Tree of Life all the way to the root of all Life, and you can click on the names of descendent subgroups to travel up the Tree of Life all the way to individual species.

For more information on ToL tree formatting, please see Interpreting the Tree or Classification. To learn more about phylogenetic trees, please visit our Phylogenetic Biology pages.

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Relationships after Pons et al. 2005, Bridge et al. 2005, and Baker et al. 2007.

Containing group: Charadriiformes

Other Names for Laridae

References

Bridge, E. S., A. W. Jones, and A. J. Baker. 2005. A phylogenetic framework for the terns (Sternini) inferred from mtDNA sequences: Implications for taxonomy and plumage evolution. Mol. Phylogen. Evol. 37:686-699.

Baker, A. J., S. L. Pereira, and T. A. Paton. 2007. Phylogenetic relationships and divergence times of Charadriiformes genera: Multigene evidence for the Cretaceous origin of at least 14 clades of shorebirds. Biol. Lett. 3:205-209.

Grant, P. J. 1986. Gulls: A Guide to Identification. 2nd ed. San Diego: Academic.

Olsen, K. M. and H. Larsson. 1995. Terns of Europe and North America. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.

Pons, J.-M., A. Hassanin, and P.-A. Crochet. 2005. Phylogenetic relationships within the Laridae (Charadriiformes: Aves) inferred from mitochondrial markers. Mol. Phylogen. Evol. 37:686-699.

Title Illustrations
Click on an image to view larger version & data in a new window
Click on an image to view larger version & data in a new window
Scientific Name Hydroprogne caspia
Specimen Condition Live Specimen
Source Caspian Tern
Source Collection Flickr
Image Use creative commons This media file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License - Version 2.0.
Copyright © 2006 Robert Summers
Scientific Name Gygis alba
Location Aride Island Bird Sanctuary, Seychelles
Specimen Condition Live Specimen
Source 2006_1029_122709AA
Source Collection Flickr
Image Use creative commons This media file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License - Version 2.0.
Copyright © 2006 Anthony Randell
Black-headed gull in summer plumage
Scientific Name Larus ridibundus
Location S.E. London, England
Comments Although taken in early February (English winter) the gull is in its summer plumage. Others in its company were in winter plumage.
Specimen Condition Live Specimen
Identified By Chris Townsend
Behavior Taking to the air from water.
Life Cycle Stage Adult
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Image Use creative commons This media file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License - Version 3.0.
Copyright ©
About This Page

Page: Tree of Life Laridae. Gulls, Terns, Skimmers. The TEXT of this page is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License - Version 3.0. Note that images and other media featured on this page are each governed by their own license, and they may or may not be available for reuse. Click on an image or a media link to access the media data window, which provides the relevant licensing information. For the general terms and conditions of ToL material reuse and redistribution, please see the Tree of Life Copyright Policies.

Citing this page:

Tree of Life Web Project. 2008. Laridae. Gulls, Terns, Skimmers. Version 24 June 2008 (temporary). http://tolweb.org/Laridae/26358/2008.06.24 in The Tree of Life Web Project, http://tolweb.org/

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This page is a Tree of Life Branch Page.

Each ToL branch page provides a synopsis of the characteristics of a group of organisms representing a branch of the Tree of Life. The major distinction between a branch and a leaf of the Tree of Life is that each branch can be further subdivided into descendent branches, that is, subgroups representing distinct genetic lineages.

For a more detailed explanation of the different ToL page types, have a look at the Structure of the Tree of Life page.

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