Sterna
Sterna is a genus of terns in the bird family Laridae. Sterna is derived from Old English "stearn" which appears in the poem The Seafarer; a similar word was used to refer to terns by the Frisians.[1] It used to encompass most "white" terns indiscriminately, but mtDNA sequence comparisons have recently determined that this arrangement is paraphyletic. It is now restricted to the typical medium-sized white terns occurring near-globally in coastal regions.[2]
| Sterna | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Common tern by the River Thames | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Charadriiformes |
| Family: | Laridae |
| Tribe: | Sternini |
| Genus: | Sterna Linnaeus, 1758 |
| Species | |
|
13, see text | |
Classification
Genus Sterna - typical white terns
- Forster's tern Sterna forsteri
- Snowy-crowned tern or Trudeau's tern Sterna trudeaui
- Common tern Sterna hirundo
- Roseate tern Sterna dougallii
- White-fronted tern Sterna striata
- Black-naped tern Sterna sumatrana
- South American tern Sterna hirundinacea
- Antarctic tern Sterna vittata
- Kerguelen tern Sterna virgata
- Arctic tern Sterna paradisaea
- River tern Sterna aurantia
- Black-bellied tern Sterna acuticauda (possibly Chlidonias)
- White-cheeked tern Sterna repressa (possibly Chlidonias)
For the "brown-backed terns" see genus Onychoprion.
References
- "Sterna". Oxford English Dictionary (3rd ed.). Oxford University Press. September 2005. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
- Bridge, E. S.; Jones, A. W. & Baker, A. J. (2005). A phylogenetic framework for the terns (Sternini) inferred from mtDNA sequences: implications for taxonomy and plumage evolution Archived 2006-07-20 at the Wayback Machine. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 35: 459–469.
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