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Laridae (1 Viewer)

Not that our votes here matter but I have no problem with African Crested Tern or West African Crested Tern or West African Tern. They either tell you what group it is in or where it is found and sort of "instantly place it," for me at least. White-backed Tern would lose the relation to both where it is found or what group of Terns it is in and would far less meaningful - to me at least.
 
I'm not necessarily a fan of forcing vernacular names to follow phylogeny. West African Crested Tern is cumbersome and a little clinical. African Royal Tern would be my preference, for the little that it's worth.
 
Piotr Minias & Tomasz Janiszewski. Evolution of a conspicuous melanin‐based ornament in gulls Laridae. Journal of Evolutionary Biology. First published:12 February 2020 https://doi.org/10.1111/jeb.13604

Abstract:

Melanin‐ and carotenoid‐based ornaments often signal different aspects of individual quality or similar components of quality under different environmental conditions and, thus, they may become evolutionarily integrated into a composite sexual trait. On the other hand, functionally and developmentally different characters (e.g. coloration characters of different developmental origin) are more likely to evolve independently from each other than more similar traits. Here, we examined evolutionary correlations between the occurrence of a conspicuous melanin‐based ornament (hood) and carotenoid‐based bare‐part ornaments within gull family. We also aimed to identify major ecological, life‐history, and biogeographical predictors of hood occurrence and reconstruct evolutionary history of this ornament. We found that hood occurrence was associated with red or dark coloration of unfeathered traits (bill and legs), while combinations of hood with yellow carotenoid‐based coloration of integument were evolutionarily avoided. Also, hood occurrence correlated negatively with the occurrence of other melanin‐based plumage character (mantle). Breeding latitude and habitat were identified as major predictors of hood occurrence in gulls, as hoods were recorded more frequently in low‐latitude and inland (rather than marine) species. Finally, our analysis provided support for evolutionary lability in hood occurrence, with a dominance of transitions towards hood loss in the evolutionary history of gulls. The results of our study provide one of the first evidence for a correlated evolution of melanin‐ and carotenoid‐based ornaments in an avian lineage, which supports evolutionary modularity of developmentally and functionally different coloration traits.
 
Gygis

H. Douglas Pratt. Species limits and English names in the genus Gygis (Laridae). Bulletin of the British Ornithologists’ Club, 140(2):195-208 (2020). https://doi.org/10.25226/bboc.v140i2.2020.a10

Abstract:

The alpha taxonomy of the genus Gygis is controversial, with limited molecular studies contradicting distributional and phenotypic evidence that two Pacific forms, larger candida and smaller microrhyncha are separate species. This paper reviews evidence from the subfossil record, morphology, distribution and hybridisation, and vocalisations to conclude that Gygis comprises three biological species, nominate alba in the Atlantic, and two Pacific species. It also reviews historical English vernacular names and proposes ‘fairytern’ as a group name for these members of the newly recognised subfamily Gyginae. This name maintains popular tradition but requires a minor exception to some current naming conventions. Proposed English names are Atlantic Fairytern, Common Fairytern, and Little Fairytern. The name White Tern should now apply only to the historical single species, and Fairy Tern remains for Sternula nereis.

[full article]
 
To have three species of something Fairytern and one Fairy Tern sounds like trouble.

Niels

True that! Can't understand what's wrong with Common, Atlantic and Little White Tern. Apart from that, really interesting study. The Little White really is different!
 
Fairytern vs Fairy Tern is a horrible idea.

IIRC, Pratt mentioned on facebook they also have a paper coming out at some point on noddies, suggesting that the Hawaiian Noddy be split from the Black Noddy.
 
Agree on Fairytern / Fairy Tern being a nightmare


IOC have been suggesting a change to White Noddy for Gygis for some time, perhaps that could be followed up?
 

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