Everything about the Great Albatross totally explained
The
great albatrosses are
seabirds in the
genus Diomedea in the
albatross family. The genus
Diomedea formerly included all albatrosses except the
sooty albatrosses, but in
1996 the genus was split with the
mollymawks and the
North Pacific albatrosses both being elevated to separate genera (Nunn
et al., 1996). 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 (Penhallurick & Wick, 2004, but see also Rheindt & Austin, 2005).
The
Wandering Albatross and the
Southern Royal Albatross are the largest of the albatrosses and are amongst the largest of
flying birds. They have the largest wingspans of any bird; being up to 3.5 m (11.5 ft) from tip to tip, although the average is a little over 3 m (9.84 ft.). Large adult males of these two species may exceed 11 kilogrammes 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
Wandering Albatrosses 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.
The Great albatrosses range across the
Southern Ocean, and nest (for the most part) on isolated oceanic islands. The wandering 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 sub-
Antarctic islands. The royal albatrosses nest only on New Zealand's sub-Antarctic islands, with one unusual colony on New Zealand's
Otago Peninsula.
Systematics and evolution
Genus Diomedea - Great albatrosses
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 (Olson, 1985; Haaramo, 2005)
Diomedea milleri (Round Mountain Silt Middle Miocene of Sharktooth Hill and possibly Astoria Middle Miocene of Oregon, USA)
Diomedea sp. (Late Miocene of Valdez Peninsula, Antarctica)
Diomedea sp. (Early Pliocene of South Africa)
Diomedea sp. (Early Pliocene of Bone Valley, Florida)
At least 4 species were found in the Early Pliocene deposits of Lee Creek Mine, North Carolina. These may in part be identical with the forms mentioned above. Assignment of the undescribed taxa to Diomedea is tentative since most of them were discovered before the splitting of this genus. Especially the Southern Hemisphere species probably belong to other genera.
Further Information
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