Mollymawk

The word mollymawk, which dates to the late 17th century, comes from the Dutch mallemok, which means mal – foolish and mok – gull.[2] Another etymology suggests that it comes from the German Mallemugge, a term used originally for midges or flies that whirled about lights.[3]

Mollymawks are a type of albatross that belong to the family Diomedeidae of the order Procellariiformes, along with shearwaters, fulmars, storm-petrels, and diving-petrels. They share certain identifying features. First, they have nasal passages that attach to the upper bill called naricorns, although the nostrils are on the sides of the bill. The bills of Procellariiformes are also unique in that they are split into between seven and nine horny plates. They also have a salt gland that is situated above the nasal passage and helps desalinate their bodies, due to the high amount of ocean water that they imbibe. It excretes a high saline solution from their nose.[4] Finally, they produce a stomach oil made up of wax esters and triglycerides that is stored in the proventriculus. This can be sprayed out of their mouths as a defence against predators as well as an energy rich food source for chicks and for the adults during their long flights.[5] The fossil species Thalassarche thyridata known from a skull fragment from the Late Miocene of Victoria, Australia shows that the genus had already diverged from the sooty albatrosses 10 mya.[1]

Extant Species

Image	Scientific name	Common name	Distribution
	Thalassarche chlororhynchos	Atlantic yellow-nosed albatross	mid-Atlantic, including Tristan da Cunha (Inaccessible Island, Middle Island, Nightingale Island, Stoltenhoff Island) and Gough Island.
	Thalassarche carteri	Indian yellow-nosed albatross	Prince Edward Islands, the Crozet Islands, Kerguelen Island, Amsterdam Island (on the Falaises d'Entrecasteaux) and St Paul Islands in the Indian Ocean, from South Africa to the Pacific Ocean just beyond New Zealand
	Thalassarche bulleri	Buller's albatross	New Zealand
	Thalassarche cauta	shy albatross	Australia and Tasmania, in the southern Indian Ocean
	Thalassarche steadi	white-capped albatross	New Zealand
	Thalassarche eremita	Chatham albatross	Chatham Islands
	Thalassarche salvini	Salvin's albatross	Southern Ocean, Île des Pingouins in the Crozet Islands in the Indian Ocean
	Thalassarche impavida	Campbell albatross	South Island and the Chatham Rise to the Ross Sea.
	Thalassarche chrysostoma	grey-headed albatross	South Georgia in the South Atlantic, and smaller colonies on Islas Diego Ramírez, Kerguelen Islands, Crozet Islands, Marion Island, and Prince Edward Islands in the Indian Ocean, Campbell Island and Macquarie Island south of New Zealand, and Chile.
	Thalassarche melanophrys	black-browed albatross	Atlantic Ocean, it breeds on the Falkland Islands, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, and the Cape Horn Islands.

Black-browed albatross (Thalassarche melanophrys) skeleton on display at the Museum of Osteology.

Mollymawks have the largest range in size of all the albatross genera, as their wingspans are 180 to 256 cm (71–101 in).[6] Mollymawks have what has been described as gull-like plumage, with dark black backs, mantle and tails and lighter heads, underwings and bellies. The heads of several species are often slightly darker grey, or have dark around the eyes. They all have a colourful pinkish flesh stripe from their gape to their ear that is shown during displays. They have distinctive bill structure and colouring which makes for easier identifying than other albatrosses.[6] The bills of mollymawks are either brightly coloured orange or yellow, or dark with several bright yellow lines.

• List of albatross breeding locations

• ITIS (2007). "ITIS Standard Report Page: Thalassarche". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved 19 Feb 2009.

• Media related to Thalassarche at Wikimedia Commons
• Data related to Thalassarche at Wikispecies