| Pseudobulweria | |
|---|---|
| |
| Tahiti petrel (Pseudobulweria rostrata) | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Procellariiformes |
| Family: | Procellariidae |
| Genus: | Pseudobulweria Mathews, 1936 |
| Type species | |
| Thalassidroma macgillivrayi (Fiji petrel) Gray, 1860
| |
| Diversity | |
| four extant species, one extinct after 1500 | |
Pseudobulweria is a genus of seabirds in the family Procellariidae. They have long been retained with the gadfly petrel genus Pterodroma despite morphological differences. Mitochondrial DNA cytochrome b sequence analysis has confirmed the split out of Pterodroma and places the genus closer to shearwaters. They thus represent either a plesiomorphic lineage still sharing some traits of the ancestral Procellariidae with the gadfly petrels, or convergent evolution of a shearwater to the ecological niche of gadfly petrels.[1]
They are a poorly known and highly endangered group: 3 of the 4 extant species are listed by the IUCN as critically endangered. The Tahiti petrel (Pseudobulweria rostrata) is the most familiar and the best studied.