Editing Larus

{{Short description|Genus of birds}}
{{Distinguish|Laurus}}
{{Other uses}}
{{Italic title}}
{{Automatic taxobox
| name = ''Larus''
| image = Great Black Backed Gull Ireland's Eye.jpg
| image_caption = [[Great black-backed gull]] ''Larus marinus''
| taxon = Larus
| authority = [[Carl Linnaeus|Linnaeus]], [[10th edition of Systema Naturae|1758]]
| type_species = ''[[Larus marinus]]''
| type_species_authority = [[Carl Linnaeus|Linnaeus]], 1758
| subdivision_ranks = Species
| subdivision = 
 See list
}}

'''''Larus''''' is a large [[genus]] of [[gull]]s 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 ''[[Chroicocephalus]]'', ''[[Ichthyaetus]]'', ''[[Hydrocoloeus]]'', and ''[[Leucophaeus]]'' for many other species formerly included in ''Larus''.

They are in general medium-large birds, typically pale grey to black above and white below and on the head, often with black markings with white spots ("mirrors") on their wingtips and in a few species also some black on the tail. They have stout, longish [[beak|bill]]s and webbed feet; in winter, the head is often streaked or smudged dark grey. The young birds are brown, and take three to five years to reach adult plumage, with subadult plumages intermediate between the young and adult.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Olsen |first1=Klaus Malling |last2=Larsen |first2=Hans |title=Gulls of Europe, Asia and North America |date=2003 |publisher=Helm |location=London |isbn=978-0-7136-7087-5}}</ref>

The taxonomy of the large gulls in the [[European herring gull#Taxonomy|herring]] and [[lesser black-backed gull|lesser black-backed]] [[species complex|complex]] is complicated, with different authorities recognising from two species in the past, increasingly up to eight species more recently.

==Taxonomy==
The [[genus]] ''Larus'' was introduced in 1758 by the Swedish naturalist [[Carl Linnaeus]] in the [[10th edition of Systema Naturae|tenth edition]] of his ''[[Systema Naturae]]''.<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> The genus name is from [[Ancient Greek]] ''laros'' (λάῥος) or [[Latin]] ''larus'', which appears to have referred to a gull or other large seabird.<ref name=job>{{cite book | last= Jobling | first= James A | year= 2010| title= The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names | url= https://archive.org/details/helmdictionarysc00jobl_997 | url-access= limited | publisher= Christopher Helm | location = London | isbn = 978-1-4081-2501-4 | page =[https://archive.org/details/helmdictionarysc00jobl_997/page/n219 219]}}</ref> 

The [[type species]] is the [[great black-backed gull]] (''Larus marinus'').<ref>{{cite book | last=Selby | first=Prideaux John | author-link=Prideaux John Selby | year=1840 | title=A Catalogue of the Generic and Sub-Generic Types of the Class Aves, Birds, Arranged According to the Natural System | location=Newcastle | publisher=T. and J. Hodgson | pages=48–49 | url=https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/51542057 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book | editor-last=Peters | editor-first=James Lee | editor-link=James L. Peters | year=1934 | title=Check-List of Birds of the World | volume=2 | publisher=Harvard University Press | location=Cambridge, Massachusetts  | page=313 | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/14483126 }}</ref> The Latin name ''Larus marinus'' translates as "sea gull", and the gulls in this genus generally are the species most often known colloquially as "seagulls".

===Species===
The genus contains 25 extant species.<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=August 2024 | title=Noddies, gulls, terns, skimmers, skuas, auks | work=IOC World Bird List Version 14.2 | url=https://www.worldbirdnames.org/bow/gulls/ | publisher=International Ornithologists' Union | access-date=3 September 2024 }}</ref>
{{Species table |genus=Larus  |authority-name= [[Carl Linnaeus|Linnaeus]] |authority-year=[[10th edition of Systema Naturae|1758]] |species-count=twenty five|no-note=y|narrow-percent=75}}

{{Species table/row
|name=[[Pacific gull]] |binomial=[[Larus pacificus]]
|image=File:Larus pacificus - Derwent River Estuary.jpg|image-size=180px |image-alt=
|authority-name=[[John Latham (ornithologist)|Latham]]|authority-year= 1801 |authority-not-original=
|range= Australia. 
|range-image=
|range-image-size=180px
|size=
|habitat=
|hunting=
|iucn-status= LC
|population=
|direction=
|subspecies={{Collapsible list |expand=yes |title=Two subspecies |bullets=on
|''L. p. pacificus'' <small>Latham, 1801</small>
|''L. p. georgis'' <small>King, 1826</small>
}}
}}

{{Species table/row
|name=[[Belcher's gull]] or band-tailed gull |binomial=[[Larus belcheri]]
|image=File:Band-Tailed Gull (cropped).jpg|image-size=180px |image-alt=
|authority-name=Vigors |authority-year=1829 |authority-not-original=
|range= the Pacific coast of South America. 
|range-image=File:Larus belcheri map.svg
|range-image-size=180px
|size=
|habitat=
|hunting=
|iucn-status= LC
|population=
|direction=
|subspecies=
}}

{{Species table/row
|name= [[Black-tailed gull]]|binomial=[[Larus crassirostris]]
|image=File:Larus crassirostris -Japan-8.jpg|image-size=180px |image-alt=
|authority-name=Vieillot |authority-year=1818 |authority-not-original=
|range= coasts of the East China Sea, Japan, Manchuria and the Kuril Islands, to western Alaska in North America.
|range-image=
|range-image-size=180px
|size=
|habitat=
|hunting=
|iucn-status= LC
|population=
|direction=
|subspecies=
}}

{{Species table/row
|name=[[Olrog's gull]] |binomial=[[Larus atlanticus]]
|image=File:Larus atlanticus1.jpg|image-size=180px |image-alt=
|authority-name=Olrog |authority-year=1958 |authority-not-original=
|range= Atlantic coast of southern Brazil, Uruguay, and northern Argentina.
|range-image=File:Larus atlanticus map.svg
|range-image-size=180px
|size=
|habitat=
|hunting=
|iucn-status=NT
|population=
|direction=
|subspecies=
}}


{{Species table/row
|name= [[Heermann's gull]]|binomial=[[Larus heermanni]]
|image=File:Larus heermanni at Richardson Bay.jpg|image-size=180px |image-alt=
|authority-name=Cassin |authority-year=1852 |authority-not-original=
|range=Pacific coast of the United States, Mexico and extreme southwestern British Columbia.
|range-image=File:Larus heermanni distr.png
|range-image-size=180px
|size=
|habitat=
|hunting=
|iucn-status= NT
|population=
|direction=
|subspecies=
}}
{{Species table/row
|name=[[Common gull]] |binomial=[[Larus canus]]
|image=File:Larus canus winter plumage.jpg|image-size=180px |image-alt=
|authority-name=Linnaeus|authority-year=1758 |authority-not-original=
|range= northern Palearctic (northern Europe, northern Asia), wintering south to the Mediterranean and China.
|range-image=File:Larus canus map.svg
|range-image-size=180px
|size=
|habitat=
|hunting=
|iucn-status= LC
|population=
|direction=
|subspecies={{Collapsible list |expand=yes |title=Three subspecies |bullets=on
| ''L. c. canus'' – <small>[[Carl Linnaeus|Linnaeus]], [[10th edition of Systema Naturae|1758]]</small>
| ''L. c. heinei'' – <small>[[Eugen Ferdinand von Homeyer|Homeyer]], 1853</small> 
| ''L. c. kamtschatschensis'' – <small>[[Charles Lucien Bonaparte|Bonaparte]], 1857</small>
}}
}}

{{Species table/row
|name=[[Short-billed gull]] or mew gull |binomial=[[Larus brachyrhynchus]]
|image=File:Mew Gull RWD1.jpg|image-size=180px |image-alt=
|authority-name=Richardson|authority-year=1831 |authority-not-original=
|range= northwestern North America.
|range-image=File:Larus brachyrhynchus map.svg
|range-image-size=180px
|size=
|habitat=
|hunting=
|iucn-status= LC
|population=
|direction=
|subspecies=
}}

{{Species table/row
|name=[[Ring-billed gull]] |binomial=[[Larus delawarensis]]
|image=File:Larus-delawarensis-021.jpg|image-size=180px |image-alt=
|authority-name=Ord |authority-year=1815 |authority-not-original=
|range= Canada and the northern United States, wintering south to the Caribbean.
|range-image=File:Larus delawarensis map.svg
|range-image-size=180px
|size=
|habitat=
|hunting=
|iucn-status= LC
|population=
|direction=
|subspecies=
}}

{{Species table/row
|name= [[Yellow-footed gull]]|binomial=[[Larus livens]]
|image=File:Larus livens 2910976.jpg|image-size=180px |image-alt=
|authority-name=Dwight |authority-year=1919 |authority-not-original=
|range=  Gulf of California in Mexico.
|range-image=File:Larus livens map.svg
|range-image-size=180px
|size=
|habitat=
|hunting=
|iucn-status= LC
|population=
|direction=
|subspecies=
}}


{{Species table/row
|name=[[Western gull]] |binomial=[[Larus occidentalis]]
|image=File:Larus occidentalis (Western Gull), Point Lobos, CA, US - May 2013.jpg|image-size=180px |image-alt=
|authority-name=Audubon|authority-year= 1839 |authority-not-original=
|range= from British Columbia, Canada to Baja California, Mexico.
|range-image=File:Larus occidentalis map.svg
|range-image-size=180px
|size=
|habitat=
|hunting=
|iucn-status= LC
|population=
|direction=
|subspecies=
}}

{{Species table/row
|name=[[Caspian gull]] |binomial=[[Larus cachinnans]]
|image=File:Larus cachinnans PKCS 2015-08-06 Amble, Northumberland 1.jpg|image-size=180px |image-alt=
|authority-name=Pallas |authority-year=1811 |authority-not-original=
|range= Black and Caspian Seas and adjacent river basins, extending east into Central Asia; wintering west into Europe and south to the coasts of Arabia.
|range-image=File:LarusCachinnansIUCN2019-2.png
|range-image-size=180px
|size=
|habitat=
|hunting=
|iucn-status= LC
|population=
|direction=
|subspecies=
}}

{{Species table/row
|name=[[Kelp gull]] (called southern black-backed gull or ''karoro'' in New Zealand) |binomial=[[Larus dominicanus]]
|image=File:Kelp Gull (Larus dominicanus) -Hot Water Beach -NZ-8.jpg|image-size=180px |image-alt=
|authority-name= Lichtenstein, MHC|authority-year=1823 |authority-not-original=
|range= Antarctic Peninsula, southern South America, southern Africa, Southern Ocean Islands, southeastern Australia, and New Zealand.
|range-image=File:Larus dominicanus map.svg
|range-image-size=180px
|size=
|habitat=
|hunting=
|iucn-status= LC
|population=
|direction=
|subspecies={{Collapsible list |expand=yes |title=Five subspecies |bullets=on
|''L. d. dominicanus'', <small>[[Martin Lichtenstein|Lichtenstein]], 1823</small>
|''L. d. vetula'', <small>([[Carl Friedrich Bruch|Bruch]], 1853)</small>
|''L. d. judithae'', <small>(Jiguet, 2002)</small>
|''L. d. melisandae'', <small>(Jiguet, 2002)</small>
|''L. d. austrinus'', <small>(Fleming, 1924)</small>
}}
}}

{{Species table/row
|name= [[European herring gull]]|binomial=[[Larus argentatus]]
|image=File:Silbermöwe - Larus argentatus.jpg|image-size=180px |image-alt=
|authority-name=Pontoppidan |authority-year= 1763|authority-not-original=
|range= northern and northwestern Europe.
|range-image=File:Larus argentatus map.svg
|range-image-size=180px
|size=
|habitat=
|hunting=
|iucn-status= LC
|population=
|direction=
|subspecies={{Collapsible list |expand=yes |title=Two subspecies |bullets=on
| ''L. a. argentatus'' – <small>[[Erik Pontoppidan|Pontoppidan]], 1763</small>
| ''L. a. argenteus'' – <small>[[Christian Ludwig Brehm|Brehm]] & Schilling, 1822</small>
}}
}}

{{Species table/row
|name= [[Vega gull]] (or East Siberian gull)|binomial=[[Larus vegae]]
|image=File:GULL, VEGA (9-5-08) Gambell, Ak -03 (2844589388).jpg|image-size=180px |image-alt=
|authority-name=Palmén |authority-year=1887 |authority-not-original=
|range= northeastern Siberia, wintering in Japan, Korea, southern and eastern China, and Taiwan.
|range-image=
|range-image-size=180px
|size=
|habitat=
|hunting=
|iucn-status= LC
|population=
|direction=
|subspecies=
}}


{{Species table/row
|name= [[Mongolian gull]]|binomial=[[Larus mongolicus]]
|image=File:Восточносибирская чайка - Larus vegae mongolicus.jpg|image-size=180px |image-alt=
|authority-name=Sushkin|authority-year=1925 |authority-not-original=
|range= Mongolia and southeastern Russia, wintering in Japan, Korea, southern and eastern China, and Taiwan.
|range-image=
|range-image-size=180px
|size=
|habitat=
|hunting=
|iucn-status= LC
|population=
|direction=
|subspecies=
}}

{{Species table/row
|name= [[Yellow-legged gull]]|binomial=[[Larus michahellis]]
|image=File:Gaivota-Ferragudo.JPG|image-size=180px |image-alt=
|authority-name=Naumann |authority-year=1840 |authority-not-original=
|range=Mediterranean Sea and Macaronesia, dispersing north as far as the British Isles after breeding.
|range-image=File:Larus michahellis map.svg
|range-image-size=180px
|size=
|habitat=
|hunting=
|iucn-status= LC
|population=
|direction=
|subspecies={{Collapsible list |expand=yes |title=Two subspecies |bullets=on
| ''L. m. michahellis'' <small>[[Johann Friedrich Naumann|Naumann]], 1840</small>
| ''L. m. atlantis'' <small>(Dwight, 1922), syn. ''Larus fuscus atlantis'', Dwight, 1922</small>
}}
}}

{{Species table/row
|name= [[Armenian gull]]|binomial=[[Larus armenicus]]
|image=File:Armenian gull near Sevanavank, side view.jpg|image-size=180px |image-alt=
|authority-name=Buturlin |authority-year=1934 |authority-not-original=
|range= interior Turkey, the Caucasus and the Middle East, wintering in the eastern Mediterranean and the Persian Gulf.
|range-image=File:Larus armenicus range.png
|range-image-size=180px
|size=
|habitat=
|hunting=
|iucn-status= LC
|population=
|direction=
|subspecies=
}}

{{Species table/row
|name=[[Great black-backed gull]] |binomial=[[Larus marinus]]
|image=File:Great Black-backed Gull Larus marinus.jpg|image-size=180px |image-alt=
|authority-name=Linnaeus |authority-year=1758 |authority-not-original=
|range= northwest European coasts, northeast North American coasts, and islands of the North Atlantic.
|range-image=File:RangeMap Lmarinus.jpg
|range-image-size=180px
|size=
|habitat=
|hunting=
|iucn-status= LC
|population=
|direction=
|subspecies=
}}

{{Species table/row
|name= [[Glaucous gull]]|binomial=[[Larus hyperboreus]]
|image=File:Glaucous gull (Larus hyperboreus) with offspring, Liefdefjord, Svalbard.jpg|image-size=180px |image-alt=
|authority-name=Gunnerus|authority-year= 1767 |authority-not-original=
|range=  Arctic Ocean coasts, wintering in the North Atlantic and North Pacific as far south as the British Isles and northernmost states of the United States, also on the Great Lakes.
|range-image=File:Larus hyperboreus map.svg
|range-image-size=180px
|size=
|habitat=
|hunting=
|iucn-status= LC
|population=
|direction=
|subspecies={{Collapsible list |expand=yes |title=Four subspecies |bullets=on
| ''L. h. hyperboreus'', <small>[[Johann Ernst Gunnerus|Gunnerus]], 1767</small>
| ''L. h. pallidissimus'', <small>Portenko, 1939</small>
| ''L. h. barrovianus'', <small>[[Robert Ridgway|Ridgway]], 1886</small>
| ''L. h. leuceretes'', <small>[[Bernhard Christian Schleep|Schleep]], 1819</small>
}}
}}


{{Species table/row
|name=[[Lesser black-backed gull]] |binomial=[[Larus fuscus]]
|image=File:Larus-fuscus-taxbox.jpg|image-size=180px |image-alt=
|authority-name=Linnaeus |authority-year=1758 |authority-not-original=
|range= Atlantic coasts of Europe and northwest Asia, wintering south to central Africa and India.
|range-image=File:Larus fuscus map.svg
|range-image-size=180px
|size=
|habitat=
|hunting=
|iucn-status= LC
|population=
|direction=
|subspecies={{Collapsible list |expand=yes |title=Five subspecies |bullets=on
|''L. f. graellsii'' <small>[[Alfred Brehm|Brehm]], 1857</small>
|''L. f. intermedius'' <small>[[Eiler Lehn Schiøler|Schiøler]], 1922</small>
|''L. f. fuscus'' <small>[[Carl Linnaeus|Linnaeus]], 1758</small>
|''[[Heuglin's gull|L. f. heuglini]]'' <small>[[Charles Robert Bree|Bree]], 1876</small>
|''L. f. barabensis'' <small>[[Hans Johansen|Johansen]], 1960</small>
}}
}}

{{Species table/row
|name=[[California gull]] |binomial=[[Larus californicus]]
|image=File:California Gull 7594 (Larus californicus).jpg|image-size=180px |image-alt=
|authority-name=Lawrence |authority-year=1854 |authority-not-original=
|range= western interior North America from the Northwest Territories, Canada south to eastern California and Colorado, wintering south to western Mexico.
|range-image=File:Larus californicus map.svg
|range-image-size=180px
|size=
|habitat=
|hunting=
|iucn-status= LC
|population=
|direction=
|subspecies={{Collapsible list |expand=yes |title=Two subspecies |bullets=on
| ''L. c. californicus'' {{Taxobox_authority | author = [[George Newbold Lawrence|Lawrence]] | date = 1854}}
| ''L. c. albertaensis'' {{Taxobox_authority | author = Jehl | date = 1987}}
}}
}}

{{Species table/row
|name=[[American herring gull]] |binomial=[[Larus smithsonianus]]
|image=File:American Herring Gull - natures pics.jpg|image-size=180px |image-alt=
|authority-name=Coues |authority-year=1862 |authority-not-original=
|range=  North America from central and southern Alaska to the Great Lakes and northeast coast of the United States from Maine south to North Carolina, wintering south to the Caribbean.
|range-image=File:Larus smithsonianus map.svg
|range-image-size=180px
|size=
|habitat=
|hunting=
|iucn-status= LC
|population=
|direction=
|subspecies=
}}

{{Species table/row
|name=[[Glaucous-winged gull]] |binomial=[[Larus glaucescens]]
|image=File:Glaucous-winged Gull RWD1.jpg|image-size=180px |image-alt=
|authority-name=Naumann |authority-year= 1840|authority-not-original=
|range= Pacific Ocean coasts of Russia and Alaska to the coast of Washington, wintering south to Japan and northwest Mexico.
|range-image=File:Larus glaucescens map.svg
|range-image-size=180px
|size=
|habitat=
|hunting=
|iucn-status= LC
|population=
|direction=
|subspecies=
}}

{{Species table/row
|name=[[Slaty-backed gull]] |binomial=[[Larus schistisagus]]
|image=File:Ooseguro-kamome.jpg|image-size=180px |image-alt=
|authority-name=Stejneger|authority-year= 1884|authority-not-original=
|range=  northeastern coasts of Asia, wintering south to eastern China.
|range-image=File:Larus schistisagus map.svg
|range-image-size=180px
|size=
|habitat=
|hunting=
|iucn-status= LC
|population=
|direction=
|subspecies=
}}


{{Species table/row
|name= [[Iceland gull]]|binomial=[[Larus glaucoides]]
|image=File:Adult Larus glaucoides, Swallow Pond 2.jpg|image-size=180px |image-alt=
|authority-name=Meyer, B|authority-year= 1822 |authority-not-original=
|range=  Arctic Ocean coasts of Canada and Greenland, wintering from Iceland south to the British Isles and the far northeast USA, with subspecies ''thayeri'' wintering on the Pacific coast of North America.
|range-image=File:Larus glaucoides map.svg
|range-image-size=180px
|size=
|habitat=
|hunting=
|iucn-status= LC
|population=
|direction=
|subspecies={{Collapsible list |expand=yes |title=Three subspecies |bullets=on
|''L. g. glaucoides'' {{small|Meyer, 1822}}
|''[[Kumlien's gull|L. g. kumlieni]]'' {{small|Brewster, 1883}}
|''[[Thayer's gull|L. g. thayeri]]'' {{small|Brooks, WS, 1915}}
}}
}}
{{Species table/end}}

====Fossils====
[[Fossil]]s 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)<ref name=olsen>Olson, Storrs L. (1985): Section X.D.2.j. Laridae. ''In:'' Farner, D.S.; King, J.R. & Parkes, Kenneth C. (eds.): ''Avian Biology'' '''8''': 181-182. Academic Press, New York.</ref>
*''Larus'' sp. (Late? Miocene/Early Pliocene of [[Lee Creek Mine]], U.S.) - several species<ref name=olsen/>
*''[[Larus elmorei]]'' (Middle Pliocene of [[Bone Valley]], southeastern U.S.)
*''[[Larus lacus]]'' (Late Pliocene of Pinecrest, southeastern U.S.)
*''[[Larus perpetuus]]'' (Pliocene of southeastern U.S.)
*''Larus'' sp. (San Diego Late Pliocene of the southwestern U.S.)
*''[[Larus oregonus]]'' (Late Pliocene - Late Pleistocene of the west-central U.S.)
*''[[Larus robustus]]'' (Late Pliocene - Late Pleistocene of the west-central U.S.)
*''Larus'' sp. (Late Pleistocene of [[Lake Manix]] western U.S.)

''"Larus" raemdonckii'' (Early Oligocene of Belgium) is now at least tentatively believed to belong in the [[Procellariiformes|procellariiform]] genus ''[[Puffinus]]''. ''"L." elegans'' (Late Oligocene?/Early Miocene of St-Gérand-le-Puy, France) and ''"L." totanoides'' (Late Oligocene?/Early Miocene of southeastern France) are now in ''[[Laricola]]'', while ''"L." dolnicensis'' (Early Miocene of the Czech Republic) was actually a [[pratincole]]; it is now placed in ''[[Mioglareola]]''.

The Early Miocene ''"Larus" desnoyersii'' (southeastern France)<!-- AnnNHMusWien104A:237 --> and ''"L." pristinus'' (John Day Formation, Willow Creek, U.S.) probably do not belong in this genus; the former may be a [[skua]].<ref>(Olson, 1985).</ref>

==Ring species==
[[File:Ring species seagull.svg|thumb|300px|right|The ''Larus'' gulls formerly interpreted as a ring around the Arctic: 1. ''L. fuscus graellsii'' & ''L. f. intermedius''  ([[Lesser black-backed gull|Western European lesser black-backed gulls]]); 2. ''L. fuscus fuscus'' ([[Lesser black-backed gull|North East European lesser black-backed gull]]); 3. ''L. fuscus heuglini'' ([[Heuglin's gull]]); 4. ''L. vegae birulai'' ([[Vega gull|Birula's gull]]); 5. ''L. vegae'' sensu stricto ([[Vega gull]]); 6. ''L. smithsonianus'' ([[American herring gull]]); 7. ''L. argentatus'' ([[European herring gull]])]]

The 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 [[Hybrid (biology)|hybridize]] with the [[American herring gull]] (living in North America), which can also interbreed with the [[Vega gull|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 gull]]s 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.<ref name=lieb>{{cite journal |last1=Liebers |first1=Dorit |last2=de Knijff |first2=Peter |name-list-style=amp |last3=Helbig |first3=Andreas J. |date=2004 |title=The herring gull complex is not a ring species |url= |journal=[[Proceedings of the Royal Society#Proceedings of the Royal Society B|Proc. R. Soc. B]] |volume=271 |issue=#1542 |pages=893–901 |doi=10.1098/rspb.2004.2679|pmid=15255043 |pmc=1691675 }}[https://royalsocietypublishing.org/action/downloadSupplement?doi=10.1098%2Frspb.2004.2679&file=rspb20042679s01.pdf Supplemental material: Electronic appendices]</ref>

==See also==
* [[Hybridisation in gulls]]
* [[Gull eggs]]

==References==
{{Commons category}}
{{Reflist}}

{{Gulls}}
{{Charadriiformes|L.|state=collapsed}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q1887740}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Larus| ]]
[[Category:Bird genera]]
[[Category:Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus]]