Diomedea fossil map
Where fossils of Diomedea have been found, shown on the Earth as it looked about 5 million years ago and on today’s map.
Dots are fossil collections recorded in the Paleobiology Database. The “then” view moves today’s fossil sites back to their positions 5 million years ago (the time slice nearest the median age of the fossils) using the Merdith et al. (2021) plate model; positions are approximate. Open on the timeline map →
| Group | Prehistoric birds |
|---|---|
| Lived | 20.45 million years ago to the present (Burdigalian to Holocene) |
| Periods | Neogene, Quaternary |
| Family | Diomedeidae |
| Named by | Linnaeus 1758 |
| Fossil records | 33 occurrences at 28 locations (PBDB) |
| Found in | United States, New Zealand, Australia, French Southern Territories, Chile, Antarctica, Mexico, South Africa, Pitcairn, Romania |
| Rock formations | txn:39692, Temblor, San Diego, San Pedro, "Topanga", Monterey |
About Diomedea
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.
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.
Text in “About” is quoted from the Wikipedia article Great albatross (revision 1379250899), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0; introduction excerpted verbatim, formatting removed. Ages, family, authority and fossil records: Paleobiology Database, accessed 23 October 2026. Ages are those of the rock layers the fossils were found in. Wikidata: Q905872.
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