The
Kerguelen petrel (
Lugensa brevirostris) is a small (36 cm long) slate-grey
seabird in the
family Procellariidae. The species has been described as a "
taxonomic oddball", being placed for a long time in
Pterodroma (the gadfly petrels) before being split out in 1942 into its own
genus Lugensa (or
Aphrodroma). The genus was not widely accepted until 1985, though subsequent research has supported it. The position within the procellariids is still a matter of debate; when it was split away from the
Pterodroma petrels it was suggested that it may be a
fulmarine petrel, whereas a 1998 study placed the species close to the
shearwaters and the genus
Bulweria.