from the Middle Miocene, about 12–15 mya. By that time, the genera Phoebastria and Diomedea had already diverged. Fossil species Diomedea milleri (Round Mountain Silt Middle Miocene of Sharktooth Hill and possibly Astoria Middle Miocene of Oregon, US) Diomedea sp. (Late Miocene of Valdez Peninsula, Antarctica) Diomedea sp. (Early Pliocene of South Africa) Diomedea sp. (Early Pliocene of Bone Valley, Florida, US) Diomedea thyridata Wilkinson, 1969 (Upper Miocene, Beaumaris Bay Fossil Site, Australia) At least four species were found in the Early Pliocene deposits of Lee Creek Mine, North Carolina in the US. These may in part be identical with the forms mentioned above. Assignment of the undescribed taxa to Diomedea is tentative since most of them were discovered before the splitting of this genus. Especially the Southern Hemisphere species probably belong to other genera. See also List of albatross breeding locations References Further reading Brooke, Michael (2004): Albatrosses and Petrels Across the World. Oxford University Press, Oxford, New York. Tickell, W.L.N. (2000): Albatrosses. Pica Press, Sussex.