T. carteri Skull Replica or Indian Yellow-Nosed Albatross measures 7 inches. Indian Yellow-Nosed Albatross Skull is museum quality polyurethane cast. Cast of Original UC Santa Cruz specimen.
The T. carteri or Indian yellow-nosed albatross (Thalassarche carteri) is a member of the albatross family, and is the smallest of the mollymawks.
The Indian yellow-nosed albatross weighs 5.6 lb. is 30 in. long and is 6.6 ft. across the wings.
The adult T. carteri or Indian yellow-nosed albatross has a pale grey or white head and nape, with a dark grey mantle, upperwing, and tail.
Its rump and underparts are white, and its underwing is white with a black tip with a narrow black margin at the leading edge.
Its bill is black with a yellow upper ridge and a red tip. The juvenile has a white head and all black bill.
It is difficult to distinguish from the closely related grey-headed albatross and T. carteri or Yellow-nosed albatross, the latter with which it was long considered conspecific and is still considered by some a subspecies of.
It can be distinguished from the T. carteri or Yellow-nosed by its head, the grey plumage of which is lighter on the Indian yellow-nosed albatross.
In 2004, BirdLife International split this species from the Atlantic yellow-nosed albatross; however Clements has not split it yet, and the SACC has not either, but recognises the need for a proposal.
T. carteri or Indian yellow-nosed albatross 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. They have nasal passages called naricorns attached to the upper bill. The bills of T. carteri or Indian yellow-nosed albatross are unique in that they are split into between seven and nine horny plates.
They make a stomach oil made of wax esters and triglycerides that is stored in the proventriculus. This is used against predators and as an energy rich food source for chicks and for the adults during their long flights.
They have a salt gland above the nasal passage. It helps desalinate their bodies, due to the high amount of ocean water that they imbibe.
