Thalasseus Maximus Bird

Thalasseus Maximus Bird

Thalasseus Maximus Bird

English Name:  Royal Tern
Latin Name:  Thalasseus maximus
Protonym:  Sterna maxima TablePlanchesEnlum. p.58
Taxonomy:  Charadriiformes / Laridae / Thalasseus
Taxonomy Code:  royter1
Type Locality:  Cayenne, ex Daubenton, pi. 988.
Author:  Boddaert
Publish Year:  1783
IUCN Status:  Least Concern

DEFINITIONS

THALASSEUS
(Laridae; Ϯ Sandwich Tern T. sandvicensis) Gr. θαλασσευς thalasseus  fisherman  < θαλασσα thalassa, θαλασσης thalassēs  sea; "140. Gattung. Thalasseus. 3   358. caspia.  359. cantiaca.  360. anglica.   ...   3 Unterscheidendes Merkmal der Gattung, der verhältnißmäßig größere und dickere Schnabel." (Boie 1822); "Genus Thalasseus Fr. Boie l. c.  ...  1. Th. cantiacus (Turopa [sic])  ...  2. Th. velox. (Africa)" (Wagler 1832); "Thalasseus Boie, Isis von Oken, 1822, Bd. 1, col. 563. Type, by subsequent designation, "Th. cantiacus" = Sterna cantiaca Gmelin = Sterna sandvicensis Latham (Wagler, Isis von Oken, 1832, col. 1225)." (Peters 1934, II, 341).
Synon. Actochelidon, Pelecanopus, Thalassema.
● (syn. Hydroprogne Ϯ Caspian Tern H. caspia) "THALASSEUS, Boie, 1822.  ...  (Sterna caspia, Pall.)" (G. Gray 1855).  Var. Thallaseus.

maximus
L. maximus greatest < super. magnus great.
● ex “Cayenne Gallinule” of Latham 1785 (syn. Aramides cajanea).
● ex “Grand Promérops de la nouvelle Guinée” of Sonnerat 1776 (syn. Epimachus fastosus).
● ex “Tangara des grands bois de Cayenne” of d’Aubenton 1765-1781, pl. 205, and “Grand Tangara” of de Buffon 1770-1783 (Saltator).
● ex “Hirondelle de Mer de Cayenne” of d’Aubenton 1765-1781, pl. 988 (Thalasseus).

SUBSPECIES

Royal Tern (African)
Latin Name: Thalasseus maximus albididorsalis
albididorsalis
L. albidus whitish  < albus  white; dorsalis (properly dorsualis) dorsal, of the back < dorsum back.

Royal Tern (American)
Latin Name: Thalasseus maximus maximus
maximus
L. maximus greatest < super. magnus great.
● ex “Cayenne Gallinule” of Latham 1785 (syn. Aramides cajanea).
● ex “Grand Promérops de la nouvelle Guinée” of Sonnerat 1776 (syn. Epimachus fastosus).
● ex “Tangara des grands bois de Cayenne” of d’Aubenton 1765-1781, pl. 205, and “Grand Tangara” of de Buffon 1770-1783 (Saltator).
● ex “Hirondelle de Mer de Cayenne” of d’Aubenton 1765-1781, pl. 988 (Thalasseus).