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
Flinders Island provided by many small streams, few of them permanently flowing directly leading to the waters of Bass Strait or such a lagoon. The coastal areas are mainly covered in scrub or shrubs, whereas the vegetation at a higher elevation consists of woodland, mainly eucalyptus species. The total number of plant species in the Furneaux Group well exceeds 800, showing the great biodiversity of its ecosystem. Native bird species include the Cape Barren goose ("Cereopsis novaehollandiae") and the short-tailed shearwater ("Puffinus tenuirostris"). Marsupial mammals are represented by Bennett's wallaby ("Macropus rufogriseus"), brushtail possum ("Trichosurus vulpecula"), eastern pygmy possum ("Cercartetus nanus"), potoroo