---
title: "Neotype designated for the Short-tailed Albatross is from the Senkaku Islands"
---

# Neotype designated for the Short-tailed Albatross is from the Senkaku Islands

*![Zootaxa ms](https://www.acap.aq/images/stories/acap/Birds/Albatrosses/S/Short_tailed/Zootaxa_ms.jpg)  
Neotype of*Phoebastria albatrus*, dorsal view; from the publication*

 Takeshi Yamasaki ([Yamashina Institute for Ornithology](https://www.yamashina.or.jp/hp/english/), Japan) and colleagues have published open access in the journal*[Zootaxa](https://www.mapress.com/zt/index)* on designating a neotype for the Short-tailed Albatross *Phoebastria albatrus.*The bird is thought to have been from thepopulation breeding on the Senkaku Islands.

 The paper’s abstract follows:

 “The Short-tailed Albatross (Pallas, 1769) is a threatened seabird widely distributed in the northern Pacific Ocean with its largest breeding sites on the Senkaku Islands and Torishima Island, Japan, which are separated by over 1700 km.  A recent taxonomic revision based on morphological, behavioral, and DNA sequence evidence has revealed that this species consists of two cryptic species: a smaller species which breeds mainly in the Senkaku Islands, and a larger species which breeds mainly on Torishima Island.  However, it has remained unclear to which of these species the scientific name *Phoebastria albatrus*applies, because the type specimens are lost. Here a neotype is designated to resolve this taxonomic issue.  From now on, the scientific name *Phoebastria albatrus*should be applied only to the smaller species breeding on the Senkaku Islands. The name of the larger species is more problematic, as the types of each synonym of *P. albatrus*must be traced, found, and examined.”

 Read of three relevant publications featured in *ACAP Latest News* on Senkaku Short-tailed Albatrosses [here](https://www.acap.aq/news/latest-news/2535-keeping-apart-assortative-mating-of-short-tailed-albatrosses-from-senkaku-and-torishima?highlight=WyJzZW5rYWt1IiwiZWRhIl0=), [here](https://www.acap.aq/latest-news/3884-are-short-tailed-albatrosses-two-cryptic-species-new-evidence?highlight=WyJzZW5rYWt1Il0=) and [here](https://www.acap.aq/latest-news/4276-eye-in-the-sky-spots-over-a-hundred-pairs-of-short-tailed-albatrosses-on-the-senkaku-islands?highlight=WyJicm90aGVycyJd).

 **Reference:**

 Yamasaki, T., Eda, M., Schodde, R. & Loskot, V. 2022.  Neotype designation of the Short-tailed Albatross *Phoebastria albatrus* (Pallas, 1769) (Aves: Procellariiformes: Diomedeidae).  *[Zootaxa 5124 (1): 081-087](https://www.mapress.com/zt/article/view/zootaxa.5124.1.6?fbclid=IwAR1BkExF_L-B5O8FrIfSWWNv9hog3sMxnUXJc7eYfTrEeYwLLts7NkOO_nk)*.

 *John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 15 April 2022*