List of Procellariidae
The taxonomy of the Procellariidae, or procellariids, is complex and still a matter of some debate. The traditional taxonomy breaks the procellariids into four main groups, the fulmarine petrels, the prions, the gadfly petrels and the shearwaters. Recent studies have called this arrangement into question.
Traditional taxonomy
This traditional taxonomy is based upon Carboneras (1992) in the Handbook of the Birds of the World.
Fulmarine petrels
Gadfly petrels
Prions
Shearwaters
Revised taxonomy
Based on Austin (1996), Bretagnolle et al. (1998), Nunn & Stanley (1998) and Brooke (2004), several changes have been made from the more traditional taxonomy. The two species in the genus Bulweria are no longer considered close to the rest of the gadfly petrels; several more gadfly petrels are removed from Pterodroma and placed in Pseudobulweria (allied to the shearwaters), and the Kerguelen Petrel is also removed from Pterodroma and placed in the monotypic Lugensa. Several taxa are also elevated to species status on the basis of newer studies.
Fulmarine petrels
Prions
Procellarine petrels
Shearwaters
- Calonectris
- Puffinus
- (Sub)Genus Puffinus ("Puffinus" group) - smaller species, closely related to Calonectris
- Puffinus nativatis, Christmas Shearwater
- Puffinus subalaris, Galápagos Shearwater
- Puffinus gavia, Fluttering Shearwater
- Puffinus huttoni, Hutton's Shearwater
- Puffinus yelkouan, Yelkouan Shearwater
- Puffinus mauretanicus, Balearic Shearwater
- Puffinus assimilis, Little Shearwater
- Puffinus heinrothi, Heinroth's Shearwater
- Puffinus lherminieri, Audubon's Shearwater
- Puffinus Puffinus, Manx Shearwater
- Puffinus opisthomelas, Black-vented Shearwater
- Puffinus auricularis, Townsend's Shearwater
- Puffinus newelli, Hawaiian Shearwater
- †Puffinus parvus, Bermuda Shearwater (extinct)
Gadfly petrels
- Pterodroma
- Pterodroma baraui, Barau's Petrel
- Pterodroma arminjoniana, Trindade Petrel
- Pterodroma externa, Juan Fernandez Petrel
- Pterodroma neglecta, Kermadec Petrel
- Pterodroma phaeopygia, Galapagos Petrel
- Pterodroma sandwichensis, Hawaiian Petrel
- Pterodroma atrata, Henderson Petrel
- Pterodroma alba, Phoenix Petrel
- Pterodroma feae, Fea's Petrel
- Pterodroma madeira, Zino's Petrel or Madeira Petrel
- Pterodroma mollis, Soft-plumaged Petrel
- Pterodroma cahow, Bermuda Petrel
- Pterodroma hasitata, Black-capped Petrel
- †Pterodroma caribbaea, Jamaica Petrel (probably extinct)
- Pterodroma incerta, Atlantic Petrel
- Pterodroma lessonii, White-headed Petrel
- Pterodroma magentae, Magenta Petrel
- Pterodroma macroptera, Great-winged Petrel
- Pterodroma solandri, Providence Petrel
- Pterodroma ultima, Murphy's Petrel
- Pterodroma inexpectata, Mottled Petrel
- Pterodroma pycrofti, Pycroft's Petrel
- Pterodroma longirostris, Stejneger's Petrel
- Pterodroma brevipes, Collared Petrel
- Pterodroma leucoptera, Gould's Petrel
- †Pterodroma cf. leucoptera, Mangareva Petrel (possibly extinct)
- Pterodroma cookii, Cook's Petrel
- Pterodroma defilippiana, Mas a Tierra Petrel
- Pterodroma hypoleuca, Bonin Petrel
- Pterodroma cervicalis, White-necked Petrel
- Pterodroma occulta, Vanuatu Petrel
- Pterodroma nigripennis, Black-winged Petrel
- Pterodroma axillaris, Chatham Petrel
An undescribed prehistorically extinct species was found on Easter Island. For other non-Recent extinctions, see the genus accounts.
References
- Austin, Jeremy J. (1996): Molecular Phylogenetics of Puffinus Shearwaters: Preliminary Evidence from Mitochondrial Cytochrome b Gene Sequences. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 6(1): 77–88 doi:10.1006/mpev.1996.0060 (HTML abstract)
- Bretagnolle, V., Attié, C., Pasquet, E., (1998): Cytochrome-b evidence for validity and phylogenetic relationships of Pseudobulweria and Bulweria (Procellariidae). Auk 115(1):188-195 PDf fulltext
- Brooke, M. (2004): Albatrosses and Petrels Across the World. Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK. ISBN 0-19-850125-0
- Carboneras, C. (1992): Family Procellariidae (Petrels and Shearwaters). In: Handbook of Birds of the World 1. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona. ISBN 84-87334-10-5
- Imber, M.J. (1985): Origins, phylogeny and taxonomy of the gadfly petrels Pterodroma spp.. Ibis 127: 197-229.
- Nunn, Gary B. & Stanley, Scott E. (1998): Body Size Effects and Rates of Cytochrome b Evolution in Tube-Nosed Seabirds. Molecular Biology and Evolution 15: 1360-1371. PDF fulltext Corrigendum