The great albatrosses are in the genus Diomedea in the albatross family. The genus Diomedea formerly included all albatrosses except the , but in 1996 the genus was split, with the and the North Pacific albatrosses both being elevated to separate genera.[
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The great albatrosses themselves form two species complexes, the wandering and Amsterdam albatrosses, and the royal albatrosses. The splitting of the great albatrosses into six or seven species has been accepted by most, though not all, authorities.
Description
The snowy albatross and the southern royal albatross are the largest of the albatrosses and are among the largest of bird flight birds. They have the largest wingspans of any bird, being up to from tip to tip, although the average is a little over . Large adult males of these two species may exceed in weight, as heavy as a large swan.
The great albatrosses are predominantly white in plumage as adults, with birds becoming whiter as they age. The two royal albatrosses at all ages and the larger, older male are totally white-bodied, while adult females and younger animals of the other species have dark pencilling marks on the edges of their feathers. Generally the smaller species or subspecies and the juveniles have more dark brown colour. The recently discovered Amsterdam albatross retains the dark brown plumage of juvenile birds into adulthood.
Habitat and range
The great albatrosses range across the Southern Ocean, and nest (for the most part) on isolated oceanic islands. The snowy albatrosses nest on islands around the Southern Ocean, from the Atlantic Ocean (South Georgia and Tristan da Cunha), to the Indian Ocean and New Zealand's Subantarctic islands. The royal albatrosses nest only on New Zealand's Subantarctic islands, with one unusual colony on New Zealand's Otago Peninsula.
Taxonomy
The genus Diomedea was introduced in 1758 by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in the tenth edition of his Systema Naturae.
Species
The genus contains six species:
Fossils
The earliest known fossils of the genus are from the Middle Miocene, about 12–15 mya. By that time, the genera Phoebastria and Diomedea had already diverged.
Fossil species[
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Diomedea milleri (Round Mountain Silt Middle Miocene of Sharktooth Hill and possibly Astoria Middle Miocene of Oregon, US)
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Diomedea sp. (Late Miocene of Valdez Peninsula, Antarctica)
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Diomedea sp. (Early Pliocene of South Africa)
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Diomedea sp. (Early Pliocene of Bone Valley, Florida, US)
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Diomedea thyridata Wilkinson, 1969 (Upper Miocene, Beaumaris Bay Fossil Site, Australia)
[ Diomedea thyridata . zipcodezoo.com][ Beaumaris Bay Fossil Site, Beaumaris, VIC Profile. aussieheritage.com.au]
At least four species were found in the Early Pliocene deposits of Lee Creek Mine, North Carolina in the US.
See also
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List of albatross breeding locations
Further reading
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Brooke, Michael (2004): Albatrosses and Petrels Across the World. Oxford University Press, Oxford, New York.
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Tickell, W.L.N. (2000): Albatrosses. Pica Press, Sussex.
