Great albatross

"Diomedea" redirects here. For Japanese animation studio, see Diomedéa.

Great albatross
Temporal range: Early Pliocene to present
SGI-2016-South Georgia (Prion Island)–Wandering albatross (Diomedea exulans) 03.jpg
Snowy albatross (Diomedea exulans)
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Procellariiformes
Family: Diomedeidae
Genus: Diomedea
Linnaeus, 1758
Type species
Diomedea exulans
Linnaeus, 1758

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.[1]

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.[2]

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference Nunn was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference Rheindt was invoked but never defined (see the help page).