Species Diomedea exulans Linnaeus, 1758
Wandering Albatross, Cape Sheep, Man-of-War Bird, Snowy Albatross, Toroa, White-winged Albatross
Type data:
Neotype AMNH 526787 ♂ adult, “intra tropicos Pelagi & ad Cap. b. Spei” = South Georgia.Subsequent designation references:
Schodde, R., Tennyson, A.J.D., Groth, J.G., Lai, J., Scofield, P. & Steinheimer, F.D. 2017. Settling the name Diomedea exulans Linnaeus, 1758 for the Wandering Albatross by neotypification. Zootaxa 4236(1): 135-148 [142].- Diomedea spadicea Gmelin, J.F. 1789. Systema Naturae per Regna Tria Naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis. Linné, editio decima tertia, aucta, reformata. Regnum Animalium. Leipzig (Lipsiae) : G.E. Beer Vol. 1(2) 501-1032 pp. [publication dated 1788] [568].
Type data:
Lectotype NHMW 13.648 juvenile, “in maris australis latitudine 37°” = southern seas at 37°S.Subsequent designation references:
Schodde, R., Tennyson, A.J.D., Groth, J.G., Lai, J., Scofield, P. & Steinheimer, F.D. 2017. Settling the name Diomedea exulans Linnaeus, 1758 for the Wandering Albatross by neotypification. Zootaxa 4236(1): 135-148 [143] (type material used by Gmelin (1789) in description of D. spadicea was from the south Atlantic and south Pacific (see Schodde et al. (2017) for details). Type data:
Lectotype BMNH 1880.11.18.682 Skin (See Schodde et al. (2017) regarding identification of a holotype for D. chionoptera by Warren (1966)), Kerguelen Island.Subsequent designation references:
Schodde, R., Tennyson, A.J.D., Groth, J.G., Lai, J., Scofield, P. & Steinheimer, F.D. 2017. Settling the name Diomedea exulans Linnaeus, 1758 for the Wandering Albatross by neotypification. Zootaxa 4236(1): 135-148.- Diomedea exulans rothschildi Mathews, G.M. 1912. The Birds of Australia. London : Witherby & Co. Vol. 2. [246].
Type data:
Holotype AMNH 526720 Skin, Between Australia and New Zealand (Eastern Australian Seas).Type locality references:
Greenway, J.C. Jnr 1973. Type specimens of birds in the American Museum of Natural History. Part 1. Tinamidae, Spheniscidae, Gaviidae, Podicipedidae, Diomedeidae, Procellariidae, Hydrobatidae, Pelecanoididae, Phaethontidae, Pelecanidae, Sulidae, Phalacrocoracidae, Anhingidae, Fregatidae, Ardeidae, Cochleariidae, Scopidae, Ciconiidae, Threskiornithidae, Phoenicopteridae, Anatidae, Cathartidae, Accipitridae, Falconidae, Megapodiidae, Cracidae, Tetraonidae, Phasianidae, Numididae, Meleagrididae, Turnicidae, Pedionomidae, Gruidae, Rallidae. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 150(3): 207-346 [219]. - Diomedea exulans rohui Mathews, G.M. 1915. Additions and corrections to my List of the Birds of Australia. Austral Avian Records 2: 123-133 [Date published 129] [125].
Type data:
Lectotype AMNH 526754 Skin, Broken Bay, New South Wales.Type locality references:
Greenway, J.C. Jnr 1973. Type specimens of birds in the American Museum of Natural History. Part 1. Tinamidae, Spheniscidae, Gaviidae, Podicipedidae, Diomedeidae, Procellariidae, Hydrobatidae, Pelecanoididae, Phaethontidae, Pelecanidae, Sulidae, Phalacrocoracidae, Anhingidae, Fregatidae, Ardeidae, Cochleariidae, Scopidae, Ciconiidae, Threskiornithidae, Phoenicopteridae, Anatidae, Cathartidae, Accipitridae, Falconidae, Megapodiidae, Cracidae, Tetraonidae, Phasianidae, Numididae, Meleagrididae, Turnicidae, Pedionomidae, Gruidae, Rallidae. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 150(3): 207-346 [219]. - Diomedea exulans westralis Mathews, G.M. 1918. Descriptions of new forms of Diomedea, Acanthiza, Legeornis, Urodynamis. Bulletin of the British Ornithologists' Club 39: 23-24 [23] [previous CAVS code 0087].
Type data:
Holotype Unknown (Unlocated), Off Albany, Western Australia.
Introduction
Ongoing conflict in use of the name Diomedea exulans Linnaeus, 1758 for different taxa of the great albatrosses (Wandering Albatross complex) was resolved by Schodde et al. (2017) through designation of a neotype, fixing the name to the large subantarctic form often known previously as D. chionoptera Salvin, 1896. They also reviewed the application of all scientific names in the complex, designating lectotypes for D. chionoptera and D. spadicea J.F. Gmelin, 1789 and fixing those names as junior synonyms of D. exulans. We follow Schodde et al. (2017), Gill et al. (2010), and most current lists (e.g., BirdLife Australia, International Ornithological Commission) in placing Diomedea chionoptera as a junior synonym of Diomedea exulans.The form Diomedea exulans westralis Mathews, 1918 lacks type specimens (presumably lost) and although it could be treated as nomen dubium we follow Schodde et al. (2017) in including the name in the synonymy of D. exulans due to all of the traits in the description identifying it as an adult of that species.
Distribution
States
New South Wales, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria, Western Australia
Extra Distribution Information
Breeds on sub-Antarctic islands of Indian Ocean with very small breeding population on Macquarie Island, circumpolar in the Southern Ocean
IMCRA
Tasmania Province (10), Southeast Transition (11), Central Eastern Province (12), Tasman Basin Province (13), Lord Howe Province (14), Norfolk Island Province (21), Macquarie Island Province (24), Southwest Shelf Transition (30), Southwest Shelf Province (31), Great Australian Bight Shelf Transition (32), Spencer Gulf Shelf Province (33), Western Bass Strait Shelf Transition (34), Bass Strait Shelf Province (35), Tasmanian Shelf Province (36), Southeast Shelf Transition (37), Central Eastern Shelf Province (38), Central Western Province (6), Southwest Transition (7), Southern Province (8), West Tasmania Transition (9)
Other Regions
Heard & McDonald Islands (Aust. Terr.), Macquarie Island terrestrial & freshwater
Distribution References
General References
Schodde, R., Tennyson, A.J.D., Groth, J.G., Lai, J., Scofield, P. & Steinheimer, F.D. 2017. Settling the name Diomedea exulans Linnaeus, 1758 for the Wandering Albatross by neotypification. Zootaxa 4236(1): 135-148
Common Name References
Anonymous 1969. An Index of Australian Bird Names. Division of WIldlife Research Technical Paper. Canberra : CSIRO Vol. No. 20 pp. 93. [5] (Cape Sheep, Man-of-War Bird, Toroa, White-winged Albatross)
Christidis, L. & Boles, W.E. 1994. The Taxonomy and Species of Birds of Australia and its Territories. Monograph 2. Melbourne : Royal Australasian Ornithologists Union iv 112 pp. (Wandering Albatross)
Christidis, L. & Boles, W.E. 2008. Systematics and Taxonomy of Australian Birds. Melbourne : CSIRO Publishing 288 pp. [17] (Wandering Albatross)
Dickinson, E.C. (ed.) 2003. The Howard & Moore Complete Checklist of the Birds of the World. London : Christopher Helm 1039 pp. (applied to D. chionoptera when treated as valid) (Snowy Albatross)
History of changes
| Published | As part of group | Action Date | Action Type | Compiler(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 28-Sep-2022 | PROCELLARIIFORMES | 31-Oct-2022 | MODIFIED | |
| 10-Nov-2020 | AVES | 18-Mar-2020 | MODIFIED | |
| 27-Oct-2015 | DIOMEDEIDAE G.R. Gray, 1840 | 27-Oct-2015 | MODIFIED | |
| 10-Nov-2020 | PROCELLARIIFORMES | 20-Aug-2013 | MODIFIED | Dr Wayne Longmore |
| 20-Aug-2013 | MODIFIED |