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Sterna

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taxon links [up-->]Sterna hirundinacea [up-->]Sterna maxima [up-->]Sterna forsteri [up-->]Sterna bengalensis [up-->]Sterna dougallii [up-->]Sterna fuscata [up-->]Sterna bergii [up-->]Sterna hirundo [up-->]Sterna elegans [up-->]Sterna vittata [up-->]Sterna striata [up-->]Sterna aurantia [up-->]Sterna sumatrana [up-->]Sterna paradisaea [up-->]Sterna lunata Phylogenetic position of group is uncertainPhylogenetic position of group is uncertain[down<--]Laridae 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.

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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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Containing group: Laridae
Title Illustrations
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Scientific Name Sterna bergii
Location Yemen
Specimen Condition Live Specimen
Source Thalasseus bergii
Source Collection Flickr
Image Use creative commons This media file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike License - Version 2.0.
Copyright © 2008 Soqotra (Yemen)
Scientific Name Sterna striata
Location Thames Coast, New Zealand
Specimen Condition Live Specimen
Behavior flying with fish
Source White-fronted Tern, Sterna striata, Thames Coast, New Zealand
Source Collection Flickr
Image Use creative commons This media file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License - Version 2.0.
Copyright © 2006 Aftab Uzzaman
Scientific Name Sterna paradisaea
Location Alaska, USA
Specimen Condition Live Specimen
Source Arctic Tern
Source Collection Flickr
Image Use creative commons This media file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike License - Version 2.0.
Copyright © 2006 Ashok Khosla
About This Page

Page: Tree of Life Sterna. 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. Sterna. Version 24 June 2008 (temporary). http://tolweb.org/Sterna/90646/2008.06.24 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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