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Saint Helena petrel

extinct species of seabird

Specimen drawers, botanical folios and brass scientific instruments under study light
Science and natureInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionMar 21, 2026
Entity authorityQ731684 ↗
Source-derived summary

The Saint Helena petrel (Pterodroma rupinarum), also known as the Saint Helena gadfly petrel or large Saint Helena petrel, is an extinct species of seabird in the family Procellariidae. It was endemic to the island of Saint Helena in the South Atlantic Ocean. It most likely became extinct after overpredation by people, soon after the island's discovery in 1502. DNA results place it within the group of Atlantic Pterodroma species.

Editorial summary

“Saint Helena petrel” enters the record as extinct species of seabird. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Saint, Helena and petrel can confirm, complicate or overturn.

Editorial reviewA practical orientation to terminology and classification, particularly when read beside dated observations, specimens or technical literature. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1502—that can be checked directly. The selected authority fields contribute no independent date. Its strongest next move is a source search built around Saint, Helena and petrel.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

“Saint Helena petrel” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Saint, Helena and petrel provides the most credible route into that argument.

Evidence profile

Datasets, specimens, observations and peer-reviewed methods provide the appropriate test for the technical claims summarized here. The source revision retrieved here is dated Mar 21, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q731684. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1502.

Critical limits

Current terminology should not be projected backward without checking the classification used when the underlying evidence was created. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Check terminology, classification and the date of the cited evidence. Scientific names and technical consensus can change while older records retain historical value.

Best used for
  • Current terminology
  • Classification context
  • Finding cited technical literature
Verify next

Primary datasets, specimen catalogues, standards bodies and the most recent peer-reviewed literature.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Saint Helena petrel”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Saint Helena petrel primary sources, Saint Helena petrel archive and Saint research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Saint Helena petrel”?
  2. Has classification or technical consensus changed since the cited source?
  3. Which observation, specimen, dataset or publication supports the account?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Saint Helena petrel” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.