NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Manx Shearwater
Puffinus puffinus (Brünnich, 1764)
Source-backed taxonomic record
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Open encyclopedia reference
The Manx shearwater (Puffinus puffinus) is a medium-sized shearwater in the seabird family Procellariidae. The scientific name of this species records a name shift: Manx shearwaters were called Manks puffins in the 17th century. Puffin is an Anglo-Norman word (Middle English pophyn) for the cured carcasses of nestling shearwaters. The Atlantic puffin acquired the name much later, possibly because of its similar nesting habits.
Wikipedia contributors, Manx shearwater; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T04:45:40.554271+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Puffinus puffinus (Brünnich, 1764)
- Name authority
- (Brünnich, 1764)
- Common name
- Manx Shearwater
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Aves
- Order
- Procellariiformes
- Family
- Procellariidae
- Genus
- Puffinus
- Extinction status
- Recorded extant
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- megaclassTetrapoda
- classAves
- orderProcellariiformes
- familyProcellariidae Leach, 1820
- genusPuffinus Brisson, 1760
- speciesPuffinus puffinus (Brünnich, 1764)
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Puffinus. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Boyd's ShearwaterPuffinus boydi Mathews, 1912 | ProcellariidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Heinroth's ShearwaterPuffinus heinrothi Reichenow, 1919 | ProcellariidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Balearic ShearwaterPuffinus mauretanicus Lowe, 1921 | ProcellariidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Galapagos ShearwaterPuffinus subalaris Ridgway, 1897 | ProcellariidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Yelkouan ShearwaterPuffinus yelkouan (Acerbi, 1827) | ProcellariidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Tropical ShearwaterPuffinus bailloni (Bonaparte, 1857) | ProcellariidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Subantarctic ShearwaterPuffinus elegans Giglioli & Salvadori, 1869 | ProcellariidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Little ShearwaterPuffinus assimilis Gould, 1838 | ProcellariidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| 'A'oPuffinus auricularis C. H. Townsend, 1890 | ProcellariidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Bannerman's ShearwaterPuffinus bannermani Mathews & Iredale, 1915 | ProcellariidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Barolo ShearwaterPuffinus baroli (Bonaparte, 1857) | ProcellariidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Bryan's ShearwaterPuffinus bryani Pyle, Welch & R. C. Fleischer, 2011 | ProcellariidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Procellaria puffinus Brünnich, 1764 Brünnich, 1764 | synonym |
Documented distribution
Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.
Caribbean
Europe & Northern Asia (excluding China)
North America
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=174555 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:4QFY4. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.