Editing Razorbill (section)

== Taxonomy ==
[[File:Razorbill (Alca torda) in flight.jpg|thumb|In flight off [[Skomer Island]]]]
The [[genus]] ''Alca'' was formally described in 1758 by the Swedish naturalist [[Carl Linnaeus]] in the [[10th edition of Systema Naturae|tenth edition]] of his ''[[Systema Naturae]]''.<ref name=Linnaeus>{{cite book | last=Linnaeus | first=Carl | author-link=Carl Linnaeus | year=1758 | title= Systema Naturae per regna tria naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis | volume=1 | edition=10th | page=130 | publisher=Laurentii Salvii | location=Holmiae (Stockholm) | language=Latin | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/727035 }}</ref> The genus name ''Alca'' is from Norwegian ''Alke'', and ''torda'' is from ''törd'' a [[Gotland]] Swedish dialect word; both terms refer to this species.<ref name=job>{{cite book |last=Jobling |first=James A |year=2010 |title=The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names |url=https://archive.org/details/Helm_Dictionary_of_Scientific_Bird_Names_by_James_A._Jobling |publisher=Christopher Helm |location=London |isbn=978-1-4081-2501-4 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/Helm_Dictionary_of_Scientific_Bird_Names_by_James_A._Jobling/page/n39 39], 388}}</ref> The [[type (biology)|type locality]] is [[Stora Karlsö]], just off the west coast of Gotland, Sweden.<ref name = HBW>{{Cite book | editor-first = Josep | editor-last = del Hoyo | editor2-first = Andrew | editor2-last = Elliott | editor3-last = Sargatal | editor3-first = Jordi | title = [[Handbook of the Birds of the World]]. Volume 3, Hoatzin to Auks | year = 1996 | page = 711 | place = Barcelona | publisher = Lynx Edicions | isbn = 84-87334-20-2 }}</ref>  The word ''Alca'' had been used for the razorbill by earlier authors such as [[Carolus Clusius]] in 1605<ref>{{ cite book | last=Clusius | first=Carolus | author-link=Carolus Clusius | date=1605 | title=Exoticorum libri decem | location=Lugdunum Batavorum [Leiden] | publisher=Ex Officinâ Plantinianâ Raphelengii | page=367 | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/8066435 }}</ref> and [[Francis Willughby]] in 1676.<ref>{{ cite book | last=Willughby | first=Francis | author-link=Francis Willughby | year=1676 | title=Ornithologiae libri tres | language=Latin | location=London | publisher=John Martyn | page=243 | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/56923623 }}</ref>

The razorbill (''Alca torda'') is now the sole species in the genus ''Alca'',<ref name=ioc>{{cite web| editor1-last=Gill | editor1-first=Frank | editor1-link=Frank Gill (ornithologist) | editor2-last=Donsker | editor2-first=David | editor3-last=Rasmussen | editor3-first=Pamela | editor3-link=Pamela Rasmussen | date=July 2021 | title=Noddies, gulls, terns, skimmers, skuas, auks | work=IOC World Bird List Version 11.2 | url=https://www.worldbirdnames.org/bow/gulls/ | publisher=International Ornithologists' Union | accessdate=16 August 2021 }}</ref> though its close relative, the [[great auk]] (''Pinguinus impennis''), which became extinct in the mid-19th century, was also formerly included in the genus ''Alca''.<ref name=Linnaeus/> Razorbills and great auks are part of the [[Tribe (biology)|tribe]] Alcini, which also includes the [[common murre]] or common guillemot (''Uria aalge''), the [[thick-billed murre]] or Brünnich's guillemot (''Uria lomvia''), and the [[little auk]] (''Alle alle'').<ref name=Friesen/>

There are two subspecies of razorbill accepted by the IOC:<ref name=ioc/>
{| class="wikitable "
|-
! Image !! Subspecies !! Distribution
|-
|[[File:Razorbills.jpg|120px]]<br>Stora Karlsö, Gotland, Sweden||''Alca torda torda'' {{au|[[Carl Linnaeus|Linnaeus]] 1758}} || the [[Baltic Sea|Baltic]] and [[White Sea]]s, [[Norway]], [[Bear Island (Norway)|Bear Island]], [[Greenland]], and eastern [[North America]]. 
|-
|[[File:Razorbills and Puffins.jpg|120px]]<br>Látrabjarg, Iceland (with [[Atlantic puffin]]s to the right)||''Alca torda islandica'' {{au| [[Christian Ludwig Brehm|C.L. Brehm]] 1831}}|| [[Iceland]] (type locality), [[Ireland]], [[Great Britain]], northwestern [[France]], and [[Heligoland]], Germany. 
|-
|}
The two subspecies differ slightly in size and bill measurements, with ''A. t. islandica'', which occurs in warmer waters, being slightly smaller.<ref name = HBW/> A third subspecies ''Alca torda pica'' Linnaeus, 1766 (originally described as a species ''Alca pica'' from the Arctic,<ref>{{cite book | last=Linnaeus | first= C. | author-link= Carl Linnaeus | year=1766 | title= Systema Naturæ per regna tria naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis, Volume 1| volume= 1 | edition=12th | page=210 | publisher=Holmiae:Laurentii Salvii  | language = Latin | url= https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/42946406 }}</ref> and reduced to subspecies by [[Finn Salomonsen|Salomonsen]] in 1944<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Storer |first1=Robert W. |title=Publications Reviewed |journal=Condor |date=1947 |volume=49 |page=91 |doi=10.2307/1364125 |jstor=1364125 |url=https://sora.unm.edu/sites/default/files/journals/condor/v049n02/p0091-p0091.pdf |access-date=11 September 2024}}</ref>), is no longer accepted because the distinguishing characteristic, an additional furrow in the upper mandible, is now known to be age-related.<ref name = HBW/>