Uria
Sign in to saveUria is a genus of seabirds in the auk family known in Europe as guillemots (a name also used for the genus Cepphus), and in North America as murres. These are medium-sized birds with mainly brown or black plumage in the breeding season. They breed on the coasts of the northern Atlantic and Pacific oceans.
Article
7 sectionsContents
- Taxonomy
- Etymology
- Extant species
- Fossils
- Description
- References
- External links
Uria is a genus of seabirds in the auk family known in Europe as guillemots (a name also used for the genus Cepphus), and in North America as murres. These are medium-sized birds with mainly brown or black plumage in the breeding season. They breed on the coasts of the northern Atlantic and Pacific oceans.
==Taxonomy== The genus Uria was introduced by the French zoologist Mathurin Jacques Brisson in 1760 with the common murre (Uria aalge) as the type species. The genus is related to the razorbill, little auk, and the extinct great auk; these together make up the tribe Alcini. Despite the shared common name guillemot, they are not so closely related to the guillemots in the genus Cepphus, which form the tribe Cepphini.