Gelochelidon

Gelochelidon is a genus of terns. It was considered a monotypic genus until the Australian tern was split from the gull-billed tern.

Gelochelidon
Australian tern (Gelochelidon macrotarsa)
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Charadriiformes
Family: Laridae
Subfamily: Sterninae
Genus: Gelochelidon
Brehm, 1830
Type species
Sterna nilotica
Species

See text

Taxonomy

The genus Gelochelidon was introduced in 1830 by the German zoologist Alfred Brehm.[1] The type species is the gull-billed tern.[2] The name combines the Ancient Greek gelaō meaning "to laugh" with khelidōn meaning "swallow".[3]

The genus contains 2 species:[4]

ImageCommon NameScientific nameDistribution
Gull-billed ternGelochelidon niloticasouthern Europe, temperate and eastern Asia, both coasts of North America, eastern South America.
Australian ternGelochelidon macrotarsaAustralia and New Guinea.

References
  1. Brehm, Alfred (1830). "Beschluss der Uebersicht der deutschen Vögel". Isis von Oken (in German and Latin). 23. cols 985–1013 [994].
  2. Peters, James Lee, ed. (1934). Check-List of Birds of the World. Vol. 2. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. p. 329.
  3. Jobling, James A. (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London: Christopher Helm. p. 171. ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4.
  4. Gill, Frank; Donsker, David; Rasmussen, Pamela, eds. (August 2022). "Noddies, gulls, terns, skimmers, skuas, auks". IOC World Bird List Version 12.2. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 7 November 2022.
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