NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Common Guillemot
Uria aalge (Pontoppidan, 1763)
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 common murre or common guillemot (Uria aalge) is a large auk, one of several species called murre or guillemot. It has a circumpolar distribution, occurring in low-Arctic and boreal waters in the North Atlantic and North Pacific. It spends most of its time at sea, only coming to land to breed on rocky cliff shores or islands. Common murres are fast in direct flight but are not very agile. They are highly mobile underwater using their wings to 'fly' through the water column, where they typically dive to depths of 30–60 m (100–195 ft). Depths of up to 180 m (590 ft) have been recorded. Common murres breed in colonies at high densities. Nesting pairs may be in bodily contact with their neighbours. They make no nest; their single egg is incubated between the adult's feet on a bare rock ledge on a cliff face. Eggs hatch after ~30 days' incubation. The chick is born downy and can regulate its body temperature after 10 days.
Wikipedia contributors, Common murre; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T05:25:33.057173+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Uria aalge (Pontoppidan, 1763)
- Name authority
- (Pontoppidan, 1763)
- Common name
- Common Guillemot
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Aves
- Order
- Charadriiformes
- Family
- Alcidae
- Genus
- Uria
- 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
- orderCharadriiformes
- familyAlcidae
- genusUria Brisson, 1760
- speciesUria aalge (Pontoppidan, 1763)
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Uria. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Brunnich's GuillemotUria lomvia (Linnaeus, 1758) | AlcidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
Documented distribution
Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.
North America
Southern Asia
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=176974 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:7DS6Y. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.