Yellow-legged gull
| Yellow-legged gull | |
|---|---|
| Georges-Valbon, France | |
| Juvenile, Portosín, Porto do Son, Galicia, Spain | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Charadriiformes |
| Family: | Laridae |
| Genus: | Larus |
| Species: | L. michahellis |
| Binomial name | |
| Larus michahellis Naumann, 1840 | |
| Synonyms | |
|
Larus argentatus michahellis Naumann, 1840 | |
The yellow-legged gull (Larus michahellis) is a large gull found in Europe, the Middle East and North Africa, which has only recently achieved wide recognition as a distinct species. It was formerly treated as a subspecies of either the Caspian gull L. cachinnans, or more broadly as a subspecies of the herring gull L. argentatus. The genus name is from Latin Larus which appears to have referred to a gull or other large seabird, and the species name honours the German zoologist Karl Michahelles.