NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Northern Royal Albatross
Diomedea sanfordi Murphy, 1917
Source-backed taxonomic record
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Open encyclopedia reference
The northern royal albatross or toroa, (Diomedea sanfordi) is a large seabird in the albatross family. It was split from the closely related southern royal albatross as recently as 1998, though not all scientists support that conclusion and some consider both of them to be subspecies of the royal albatross.
Wikipedia contributors, Northern royal albatross; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T10:48:48.034591+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Diomedea sanfordi Murphy, 1917
- Name authority
- Murphy, 1917
- Common name
- Northern Royal Albatross
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Aves
- Order
- Procellariiformes
- Family
- Diomedeidae
- Genus
- Diomedea
- Extinction status
- Recorded extant
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- megaclassTetrapoda
- classAves
- orderProcellariiformes
- familyDiomedeidae G. R. Gray, 1840
- genusDiomedea Linnaeus, 1758
- speciesDiomedea sanfordi Murphy, 1917
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Diomedea. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Amsterdam AlbatrossDiomedea amsterdamensis J. P. Roux, Jouventin, Mougin, Stahl & Weimerskirch, 1983 | DiomedeidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Antipodean AlbatrossDiomedea antipodensis C. J. R. Robertson & Warham, 1992 | DiomedeidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Southern Royal AlbatrossDiomedea epomophora R. P. Lesson, 1825 | DiomedeidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Snowy AlbatrossDiomedea exulans Linnaeus, 1758 | DiomedeidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Tristan AlbatrossDiomedea dabbenena Mathews, 1929 | DiomedeidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Diomedea epomophora sanfordi Murphy, 1917 Murphy, 1917 | synonym |
Documented distribution
Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=824054 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:36B3Y. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.