Pseudobulweria

Taxobox
name = "Pseudobulweria"

---

image_caption = Tahiti Petrel
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Chordata
classis = Aves
ordo = Procellariiformes
familia = Procellariidae
genus = "Pseudobulweria"
genus_authority = Mathews, 1936
subdivision_ranks = Species
subdivision = "Pseudobulweria macgillivrayi"
"Pseudobulweria rostrata"
"Pseudobulweria becki"
"Pseudobulweria aterrima"

"Pseudobulweria" is a genus of seabirds in the family Procellariidae. The genus has long been retained with the gadfly petrel genus "Pterodroma" despite morphological differences. Recent mtDNA cytochrome "b" sequence analysis has confirmed the split out of "Ptereodroma" and places the genus closer to the "Puffinus" shearwaters (Bretagnolle "et al." 1998).

Three of the "Pseduobulweria" species are listed as critically endangered. The Fiji Petrel and Beck's Petrel are among the least well know seabird species on Earth, with the breeding colonies of the Beck's Petrel being completely unknown; both species have been seen very seldom since their discovery by science. The fourth species, the Tahiti Petrel, is a relatively common species across the Pacific Ocean and is listed as near threatened. One species of "Pseudobulweria" has been described from from subfossil remains on the Atlantic Ocean island of Saint Helena.

* Fiji Petrel, "Pseudobulweria macgillivrayi"
* Tahiti Petrel, "Pseudobulweria rostrata"
* Beck's Petrel, "Pseudobulweria becki"
* Mascarene Petrel, "Pseudobulweria aterrima"
* St Helena Petrel, "Pseudobulweria rupinarum" - extinct (early 16th century)

References

* Bretagnolle, Vincent; Attié, Carole & Pasquet, Eric (1998): Cytochrome-"B" evidence for validity and phylogenetic relationships of "Pseudobulweria" and "Bulweria" (Procellariidae). "Auk" 115(1): 188-195 [http://elibrary.unm.edu/sora/Auk/v115n01/p0188-p0195.pdf PDf fulltext]

* Brooke, Michael (2004): "Albatrosses and Petrels across the World". Oxford University Press, Oxford, New York. ISBN 0-19-850125-0