Editing Booby (section)

==Systematics and evolution==
{{Cladogram
| caption   = Cladogram showing the species in the genus ''Sula''.<ref name="patterson2100">{{Cite journal |last=Patterson |first=S.A. |last2=Morris-Pocock |first2=J.A. |last3=Friesen |first3=V.L |year=2011 |title=A multilocus phylogeny of the Sulidae (Aves: Pelecaniformes) |journal=Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution |volume=58 |issue=2 |pages=181–191 |bibcode=2011MolPE..58..181P |doi=10.1016/j.ympev.2010.11.021 |pmid=21144905}}</ref>
| align     = left
| cladogram = {{Clade
   | style=font-size: 80%; line-height: 75%;
   |1={{clade
      |1=[[Red-footed booby]] (''Sula sula'')
      |2={{Clade
         |1={{Clade
               |1=[[Brown booby]] (''Sula leucogaster'')
               |2=[[Cocos booby]] (''Sula brewsteri'')
               }}
         |2={{Clade
            |1={{Clade
               |1=[[Masked booby]] (''Sula dactylatra'')
               |2=[[Nazca booby]] (''Sula granti'')
               }}
            |2={{Clade
               |1=[[Blue-footed booby]] (''Sula nebouxii'')
               |2=[[Peruvian booby]] (''Sula variegata'')
               }}
            }}
         }}
      }}
   }}
}}

The genus ''Sula'' was introduced by the French zoologist [[Mathurin Jacques Brisson]] in 1760.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Brisson |first=Mathurin Jacques |author-link=Mathurin Jacques Brisson |title=Ornithologie, ou, Méthode contenant la division des oiseaux en ordres, sections, genres, especes & leurs variétés |publisher=Jean-Baptiste Bauche |year=1760 |volume=1 |location=Paris |at=[https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/36010460 Vol. 1 p. 60], [https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/36211468 Vol. 6 p.494] |language=French, Latin}}</ref>  The [[type species]] is the [[brown booby]].<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/16108821 |title=Check-list of Birds of the World |publisher=Museum of Comparative Zoology |year=1979 |editor-last=Mayr |editor-first=Ernst |editor-link=Ernst Mayr |edition=2nd |volume=1 |location=Cambridge, Massachusetts |page=181 |access-date=2017-11-21 |editor-last2=Cottrell |editor-first2=G. William |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210808171006/https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/16108821 |archive-date=2021-08-08 |url-status=live}}</ref> The name is derived from ''súla'', the [[Old Norse]] and [[Icelandic language|Icelandic]] word for the other member of the family [[Sulidae]], the [[gannet]].<ref>{{Cite OED | Sula, n. | id=193748}}</ref>

The English name ''booby'' may derive from the [[Spanish language|Spanish]] slang term {{lang|es|bobo}}, meaning "stupid",<ref>{{Cite OED | booby, n. | id=21393}}</ref> as these tame birds had a habit of landing on board sailing ships, where they were easily captured and eaten. Owing to this, boobies are often mentioned as having been caught and eaten by shipwrecked sailors, including [[William Bligh]] of the [[HMS Bounty|''Bounty'']] and his adherents during their voyage after being set adrift by [[Fletcher Christian]] and his followers.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Alexander |first=Caroline |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QCA7gtcE0b0C |title=The Bounty: The True Story of the Mutiny on the Bounty |date=25 May 2004 |publisher=Penguin Books |isbn=978-0142004692}}</ref>

Six of the ten extant Sulidae species called ''boobies'' are in the genus ''Sula'', while the three gannet species are usually placed in the genus ''[[Gannet|Morus]]''.<ref name="Friesen">{{Cite journal |last=Friesen |first=V. L. |last2=Anderson |first2=D. J. |last3=Steeves |first3=T.E. |last4=Jones |first4=H. |last5=Schreiber |first5=E.A. |year=2002 |title=Molecular support for species status of the Nazca Booby |journal=The Auk |volume=119 |issue=3 |pages=820–826 |doi=10.1642/0004-8038(2002)119[0820:MSFSSO]2.0.CO;2 |s2cid=82903466}}</ref> [[Abbott's booby]] was formerly included in ''Sula'' but is now placed in a [[monotypic]] genus ''Papasula'', which represents an ancient lineage perhaps closer to ''Morus''. Some authorities consider that all ten species should be considered [[wiktionary:congeneric|congeneric]] in ''Sula''. However, they are readily distinguished by means of [[osteology]]. The distinct lineages of gannets and boobies are known to have existed in such form, since at least the Middle [[Miocene]] ({{val|15|ul=mya}}).<ref>{{Cite book |last=Olson |first=Storrs L. |author-link=Storrs L. Olson |title=Avian Biology |date=1985 |publisher=Academic Press |editor-last=Farner |editor-first=D.S. |volume=8 |location=New York |pages=79–238 [203–204] |chapter=The Fossil Record of Birds (Section X.G.5.a ''Sulidae'') |hdl=10088/6553 |access-date=2017-11-22 |editor-last2=King |editor-first2=D.S. |editor-last3=Parkes |editor-first3=K.C. |chapter-url=https://repository.si.edu/handle/10088/6553 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210410015830/https://repository.si.edu/handle/10088/6553 |archive-date=2021-04-10 |url-status=live}}</ref>

The fossil record of boobies is not as well documented as that of [[Gannet|gannets]], either because booby speciation was lower from the late [[Miocene]] to the [[Pliocene]] (when gannet diversity was at its highest), or because the booby fossil species record is as yet incomplete due to most localities being  [[Equator#Equatorial countries and territories|equatorial]] or in the [[Southern Hemisphere]].