The genus Pachyptila was introduced in 1811 by the German zoologist Johann Karl Wilhelm Illiger.

[3] The type species was subsequently designated as the broad-billed prion by English naturalist Prideaux John Selby in 1840.

[4][5] The English name "prion" comes from the Ancient Greek πριόνι (prióni, "saw"), in reference to the serrated edges of its bill.

The genus produces a stomach oil made up of wax esters and triglycerides that is stored in the proventriculus.

This can be sprayed out of their mouths as a defence against predators and as an energy-rich food source for chicks and for the adults during their long flights.