NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Short-billed Gull
Larus brachyrhynchus Richardson, 1831
Source-backed taxonomic record
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Open encyclopedia reference
The short-billed gull (Larus brachyrhynchus) is a species of gull that breeds in northwestern North America. In North America, it was previously known as the mew gull, when it was considered conspecific with the palearctic common gull (Larus canus). Most authorities, including the American Ornithological Society in 2021, have split the two populations as distinct species.
Wikipedia contributors, Short-billed gull; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T06:36:17.785655+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Larus brachyrhynchus Richardson, 1831
- Name authority
- Richardson, 1831
- Common name
- Short-billed Gull
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Aves
- Order
- Charadriiformes
- Family
- Laridae
- Genus
- Larus
- Extinction status
- Recorded extant
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- megaclassTetrapoda
- classAves
- orderCharadriiformes
- familyLaridae
- genusLarus Linnaeus, 1758
- speciesLarus brachyrhynchus Richardson, 1831
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Larus. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Olrog's GullLarus atlanticus Olrog, 1958 | LaridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| California GullLarus californicus Lawrence, 1854 | LaridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Common GullLarus canus Linnaeus, 1758 | LaridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Lesser Black-backed GullLarus fuscus Linnaeus, 1758 | LaridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Glaucous-winged GullLarus glaucescens J. F. Naumann, 1840 | LaridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Iceland GullLarus glaucoides B. Meyer, 1822 | LaridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Western GullLarus occidentalis Audubon, 1839 | LaridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Slaty-backed GullLarus schistisagus Stejneger, 1884 | LaridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| American Herring GullLarus smithsonianus Coues, 1862 | LaridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Vega GullLarus vegae Palmén, 1887 | LaridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Heermann's GullLarus heermanni Cassin, 1852 | LaridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| European Herring GullLarus argentatus Pontoppidan, 1763 | LaridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Larus canus brachyrhynchus Richardson, 1831 Richardson, 1831 | synonym |
Documented distribution
Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.
North America
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=1192602 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:9HJDC. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.