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Reference.org
Yellow-legged gull
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<p>The yellow-legged gull (<i>Larus michahellis</i>) is a large <a href="/facts/Gull/ob8yUNmo">gull</a> found in <a href="/facts/Europe/DTAtrKfh">Europe</a>, the <a href="/facts/Middle_East/8CD6pLWv">Middle East</a> and <a href="/facts/North_Africa/ItxQAfs7">North Africa</a>, which has only recently achieved wide recognition as a distinct species. It was formerly treated as a <a href="/facts/Subspecies/4L9jFacF">subspecies</a> of either the <a href="/facts/Caspian_gull/dnLjXNjX">Caspian gull</a> <i>L. cachinnans</i>, or more broadly as a subspecies of the <a href="/facts/European_herring_gull/tkafM0a9">herring gull</a> <i>L. argentatus</i>. The genus name is from <a href="/facts/Latin/pM3Kge85">Latin</a> <i>Larus</i> which appears to have referred to a gull or other large seabird, and the species name honours the German zoologist <a href="/facts/Karl_Michahelles/ErIGy3V1">Karl Michahelles</a>. </p>