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.

__TOC__ Traditional taxonomy This traditional taxonomy is based upon Carboneras (1992) in the Handbook of the Birds of the World.

Fulmarine petrels Macronectes Fulmarus Thalassoica Daption Pagodroma Gadfly petrels Pterodroma Prions Halobaena Pachyptila Shearwaters Procellaria Calonectris Puffinus

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 Macronectes Macronectes halli, northern giant petrel Macronectes giganteus, southern giant petrel Fulmarus Fulmarus glacialis, northern fulmar Fulmarus glacialoides, southern fulmar Thalassoica Thalassoica antarctica, Antarctic petrel Daption Daption capense, Cape petrel Pagodroma Pagodroma nivea, snow petrel

Prions Pelecanoides Pelecanoides garnotii, Peruvian diving-petrel Pelecanoides magellani, Magellanic diving-petrel Pelecanoides georgicus, South Georgia diving-petrel Pelecanoides urinatrix, common diving-petrel Halobaena Halobaena caerula, blue petrel Pachyptila Pachyptila turtur, fairy prion Pachyptila belcheri, slender-billed prion Pachyptila crassirostris, fulmar prion Pachyptila vittata, broad-billed prion Pachyptila desolata, Antarctic prion Pachyptila salvin, Salvin's prion

Procellarine petrels Procellaria Procellaria aequinoctialis, white-chinned petrel Procellaria conspicillata, spectacled petrel Procellaria westlandica, Westland petrel Procellaria parkinsoni, black petrel Procellaria cinerea, grey petrel Bulweria Bulweria bulwerii, Bulwer's petrel Bulweria fallax, Jouanin's petrel †Bulweria bifax, small Saint Helena petrel (extinct)

Shearwaters Calonectris Calonectris borealis, Cory's shearwater Calonectris diomedea, Scopoli's shearwater Calonectris edwardsii, Cape Verde shearwater Calonectris leucomelas, streaked shearwater 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 (lherminieri) baroli, North Atlantic little shearwater Puffinus (lherminieri) persicus, Persian shearwater Puffinus (lherminieri) bailloni, tropical shearwater or Baillon's shearwater Puffinus (lherminieri) bannermani, Bannerman'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)

(Sub)Genus Ardenna ("Neonectris" group) - larger species, a distinct lineage Puffinus creatopus, pink-footed shearwater Puffinus carneipes, flesh-footed shearwater Puffinus gravis, great shearwater Puffinus griseus, sooty shearwater Puffinus tenuirostris, short-tailed shearwater Puffinus pacificus, wedge-tailed shearwater Puffinus bulleri, Buller's shearwater Pseudobulweria Puffinus macgillivrayi, Fiji petrel Puffinus rostrata, Tahiti petrel Puffinus becki, Beck's petrel Puffinus aterrima, Mascarene petrel †Puffinus rupinarus, large Saint Helena petrel (extinct) Aphrodroma Aphrodroma brevirostris, Kerguelen petrel

Gadfly petrels Pterodroma Pterodroma baraui, Barau's petrel Pterodroma arminjoniana, Trindade petrel Pterodroma (arminjoniana) heraldica, herald 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, Masatierra 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 (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. Carboneras, C. (1992): Family Procellariidae (Petrels and Shearwaters). In: Handbook of Birds of the World 1. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona. 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