Larus lacus

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Larus lacus
Temporal range: Pliocene
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Charadriiformes
Family: Laridae
Genus: Larus
Species:
L. lacus
Binomial name
Larus lacus
Emslie, 1995

Larus lacus is an extinct species of gull that lived in North America during the Late Pliocene. [1]

Contents

Etymology

The genus name Larus derives from Ancient Greek, referring to a seabird. The species name lacus derives from Latin, meaning "lake or standing body of water, in reference to the lagoonal deposits at the type locality." [1]

Description

Larus lacus specimens stem from Sarasota County, Florida. [1] The humerus of Larus lacus most closely resembles the Hartlaub's gull (Chroicocephalus hartlaubii), black-headed gull (Chroicocephalus ridibundus), brown-hooded gull (Chroicocephalus maculipennis), and Franklin's gull (Leucophaeus pipixcan). [1]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Emslie, Steven D. (1995). "A Catastrophic Death Assemblage of a New Species of Cormorant and Other Seabirds from the Late Pliocene of Florida". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 15 (2): 313–330. ISSN   0272-4634.