Lari

This article is about the bird suborder. For other uses, see Lari (disambiguation).
Lari
Atlantic yellow-legged gull
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Charadriiformes
Suborder: Lari
Sharpe, 1891
Families
  • Laridae
  • Rhynchopidae
  • Sternidae
  • Stercorariidae
  • Alcidae (tentatively placed here)
  • Glareolidae (tentatively placed here)

The suborder Lari is the part of the order Charadriiformes which includes the gulls, terns, skuas and skimmers, with the waders and snipes making up the rest of the order. Following recent research, the auks are now placed into the Lari too; the family Glareolidae (pratincoles and coursers) might constitute a distinct suborder. Sometimes, the buttonquails are also placed here, but the molecular data and fossil record rather suggests them be a quite basal offshoot along with the snipe-like and aberrant waders.[1]

The larids are generally larger species which take fish from the sea. Several gulls and skuas will also take food items from beaches, or rob smaller species, and some have become adapted to inland environments.

References

  1. Paton et al., 2003; Thomas et al., 2004; Paton & Baker, 2006)

Sources