Puffin are closely related, together composing the subfamily Fraterculini. The scientific name "Fratercula" is derived from Latin and means "little brother", a reference to the black and white plumage, which resembles monastic robes. The English name "puffin" – puffed in the sense of swollen – was originally applied to the fatty, salted meat of young birds of the unrelated Manx shearwater ("Puffinus puffinus"), formerly known as the "Manks puffin". Puffin is an Anglo-Norman word (Middle English "pophyn" or "poffin") for the cured carcasses of nestling Manx shearwaters. The oldest alcid fossil is "Hydrotherikornis" from Oregon dating to the Late Eocene while
Bulweria "b" sequence analysis has proven them to be closely related to the shearwaters in the genus "Puffinus" and especially the "Procellaria" petrels. Bulweria Bulweria is a genus of seabirds in the family Procellariidae named after English naturalist James Bulwer. The genus has two extant species, Bulwer's petrel ("B. bulwerii") and Jouanin's petrel ("B. fallax"). A third species, the Olson's petrel ("Bulweria bifax"), became extinct in the early 16th century; it is known only from skeletal remains. Bulwer's Petrel ranges in the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Oceans, whereas Joaunin's Petrel is confined to the northwestern Indian Ocean. Olson's Petrel is known