Editing Laughing gull (section)

==Taxonomy==
The laughing seagull was [[Species description|formally described]] in 1758 by the Swedish naturalist [[Carl Linnaeus]] in the [[10th edition of Systema Naturae|tenth edition]] of his ''[[Systema Naturae]]'' under the [[binomial nomenclature|binomial name]] ''Larus atricilla''.<ref>{{cite book | last=Linnaeus | first=Carl | author-link=Carl Linnaeus | year=1758 | title= Systema Naturae per regna tria naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis | volume=1 | edition=10th | page=136 | publisher=Laurentii Salvii | location=Holmiae (Stockholm) | language=Latin | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/727041 }}</ref> Linnaeus based his account on the "laughing gull" from [[the Bahamas]] that had been described and illustrated in 1729–1732 by the English naturalist [[Mark Catesby]] in his ''The Natural History of Carolina, Florida and the Bahama Islands''. The laughing gull is now one of five New World gulls placed in the [[genus]] ''[[Leucophaeus]]'' that was introduced in 1855 by the German ornithologist [[Carl Friedrich Bruch]].<ref name=ioc>{{cite web| editor1-last=Gill | editor1-first=Frank | editor1-link=Frank Gill (ornithologist) | editor2-last=Donsker | editor2-first=David | editor3-last=Rasmussen | editor3-first=Pamela | editor3-link=Pamela C. Rasmussen | date=December 2023 | title=Noddies, gulls, terns, skimmers, skuas, auks | work=IOC World Bird List Version 14.1 | url=https://www.worldbirdnames.org/bow/gulls/ | publisher=International Ornithologists' Union | access-date=19 July 2024 }}</ref> The genus name ''Leucophaeus'' is from [[Ancient Greek]] ''leukos'' meaning "white" and ''phaios'' meaning "dusky". The specific epithet ''atricilla'' combines [[Latin]] ''ater'' meaning "black" with [[Modern Latin]] ''cilla'' meaning "tail". It is possible that Linnaeus intended to write ''atricapilla'' meaning "black-headed".<ref>{{cite book | last=Jobling | first=James A. | year=2010| title=The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names | publisher=Christopher Helm | location=London | isbn=978-1-4081-2501-4 | pages=[https://archive.org/stream/Helm_Dictionary_of_Scientific_Bird_Names_by_James_A._Jobling#page/n224/mode/1up 224], [https://archive.org/stream/Helm_Dictionary_of_Scientific_Bird_Names_by_James_A._Jobling#page/n59/mode/1up 59]}}</ref>

Like most other members of the genus ''[[Leucophaeus]]'', the laughing gull was long placed in the genus ''[[Larus]]''. It was moved to the resurrected genus ''Leucophaeus'' based on a 2005 [[molecular phylogenetic]] study that found that inclusion in ''Larus'' made that genus [[paraphyletic]].<ref>{{Cite journal | last1=Pons | first1=J.-M. | last2=Hassanin | first2=A. | last3=Crochet | first3=P.-A. | date=2005 | title=Phylogenetic relationships within the Laridae (Charadriiformes: Aves) inferred from mitochondrial markers | journal=Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution | volume=37 | issue=3 | pages=686–699 | doi=10.1016/j.ympev.2005.05.011| pmid=16054399 | bibcode=2005MolPE..37..686P }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal | last1=Banks | first1=R.C. | last2=Chesser | first2=R.T. | last3=Cicero | first3=C. | last4=Dunn | first4=J.L. | last5=Kratter | first5=A.W. | last6=Lovette | first6=I.J. | last7=Rasmussen | first7=P.C. | last8=Remsen | first8=J.V. | last9=Rising | first9=J.D. | last10=Stotz | first10=D.F. | last11=Winker | first11=K. | date=2008 | title=Forty-Ninth Supplement to the American Ornithologists' Union Check-List of North American Birds | journal=The Auk | volume=125 | issue=3 | pages=758–768 | doi=10.1525/auk.2008.9708 | doi-access=free| bibcode=2008Auk...125..756B }}</ref>

Two [[subspecies]] are recognised. They are listed below with their breeding ranges.<ref name=ioc/>
{| class="wikitable "
|-
! Image !! Subspecies !! Distribution
|-
|[[File:Assateague laughing gull MD1.jpg|120px]]|| ''L. a. megalopterus'' ([[Carl Friedrich Bruch|Bruch]], 1855) || islands off west North Atlantic coast of southeast Canada (sporadic or formerly), Maine to Florida, Gulf of Mexico to south Texas, [[Salton Sea]] (southeast California; formerly), [[Gulf of California]] to [[Colima]]
|-
|[[File:Leucophaeus atricilla Caye Caulker 04.JPG|120px]]|| ''L. a. atricilla'' ([[Carl Linnaeus|Linnaeus]], 1758) || West Indies, islands off [[Yucatán Peninsula]], islands north of Venezuela, Trinidad and [[Tobago]] and to [[French Guiana]]
|-
|}