lagopus
{{Short description|Genus of birds}}
{{Redirect|Ptarmigan}}
{{Italic title}}
{{Automatic taxobox
| name = Lagopus
| fossil_range = Early Pliocene to present
| image = Ptarmigan.jpg
| image_caption =
| taxon = Lagopus
| authority = Brisson, 1760
| type_species = Tetrao lagopus
| type_species_authority = Linnaeus, 1758
| subdivision_ranks = Species
| subdivision = See text
}}
Lagopus is a genus of birds in the grouse subfamily commonly known as ptarmigans ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|t|ɑːr|m|ᵻ|g|ən|z}}). The genus contains four living species with numerous described subspecies, all living in tundra or cold upland areas.
Taxonomy and etymology
The genus Lagopus was introduced by the French zoologist Mathurin Jacques Brisson in 1760 with the willow ptarmigan (Lagopus lagopus) as the type species.{{ cite book | last=Brisson | first=Mathurin Jacques | author-link=Mathurin Jacques Brisson | year=1760 | title=Ornithologie, ou, Méthode Contenant la Division des Oiseaux en Ordres, Sections, Genres, Especes & leurs Variétés | language=fr, la | at=[https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/36010422 Vol. 1, p. 26], [https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/36010653 Vol. 1, p. 181] | place=Paris | publisher=Jean-Baptiste Bauche }}{{ cite book | editor-last=Peters | editor-first=James Lee | editor-link=James L. Peters | year=1934 | title=Check-list of Birds of the World | volume=2 | publisher=Harvard University Press | place=Cambridge, Massachusetts | page=29 | url=https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/14482842 }} The genus name Lagopus is derived from Ancient Greek {{lang|grc-Latn|lagos}} ({{lang|grc|λαγος}}), meaning "hare, rabbit", + {{lang|grc-Latn|pous}} ({{lang|grc|πους}}), "foot", in reference to the feathered feet and toes typical of this cold-adapted group (such as the snowshoe hare). The specific epithets muta and leucura were for a long time misspelt mutus and leucurus, in the erroneous belief that the ending of Lagopus denotes masculine gender. However, as the Ancient Greek term {{lang|grc|λαγωπους}} is of feminine gender, and the specific epithet has to agree with that, the feminine muta and leucura are correct.{{ cite journal | last1=David | first1=Normand | last2=Gosselin | first2=Michel | year=2002 | title=The grammatical gender of avian genera | journal=Bulletin of the British Ornithologists' Club | volume=122 | issue=4 | pages=257–282 [258, 279]| url=https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/40416637 }}
The English name ptarmigan comes from the Scottish Gaelic name for L. muta, {{lang|gd|tarmachan}} ([{{IPA|gd|'t̪ʰaɾaməxan}}]), meaning “croaker”, which refers to the bird’s frog-like call. The p- was added due to a mistaken belief in a Greek origin, as if the word were related to the Greek word {{lang|grc|πτερόν}} (pterón), 'wing'.Lockwood, W. B. (1984). The Oxford Book of British Bird Names. Oxford University Press {{ISBN|0-19-214155-4}}.
Description
The four species are all sedentary specialists of cold regions. Willow ptarmigan is a circumpolar boreal forest species, white-tailed ptarmigan is a North American alpine bird, and rock ptarmigan breeds in both Arctic and mountain habitats across Eurasia and North America. With the exception of the red grouse (until recently considered a subspecies of willow ptarmigan),{{ cite journal | last1=Sangster | first1=George | last2= Collinson | first2= J. Martin | last3=Kirwan | first3=Guy M. | last4=Knox | first4=Alan G. | last5=McMahon | first5= Barry J. | last6=Parkin | first6=David | last7=Schweizer | first7=Manuel | last8=Huglund | first8=Jacob | year=2022 | title=The taxonomic status of Red Grouse | journal=British Birds | volume=115 | pages=28–38 | url=https://britishbirds.co.uk/journal/article/taxonomic-status-red-grouse}} all have a white winter plumage that helps them blend into the snowy background. Even their remiges are white, while these feathers are black in almost all birds (even birds that are predominantly white, such as the Bali myna) because melanin makes them more resilient and thus improves flight performance. The Lagopus grouse apparently found it easier to escape predators by not being seen than by flying away.{{citation needed|date=April 2018}}
These are hardy vegetarian birds, but insects are also taken by the developing young. In all species except for the willow ptarmigan, the female takes all responsibility for nesting and caring for the chicks, as is typical with gamebirds.
{{Clear|left}}
Species
File:Lagopus lagopus scotica (red grouse).jpg (Lagopus scotica), native to the British Isles, was formerly considered as a subspecies of the willow ptarmigan]]
| class="wikitable" border="1"
! align="center" style="background-color: #D3D3A4" colspan ="4" |Living species of Lagopus |
| |Common and scientific names
! Image ! align="center" |Description ! |Range and status |
|---|
| Willow ptarmigan (also willow grouse) Lagopus lagopus (Linnaeus, 1758) |File:Denali National Park Ptarmigan.jpg |Summer: marbled brown and reddish with black tail and white underparts; winter: most subspecies have white plumage except for black tail. |10–20 subspecies. Circumarctic range in forest and moorlands of northern Eurasia and North America. Status: Least Concern. |
| Red grouse Lagopus scotica (Latham, 1787) |File:2014-04-21 Lagopus lagopus scotica, Hawsen Burn 1.jpg |Reddish brown with black tail all year round |Monotypic. Great Britain and Ireland |
| Rock ptarmigan Lagopus muta (Montin, 1781) |File:Rock Ptarmigan (Lagopus Muta).jpg |Summer: grey and brown upperparts; winter: white plumage. Distinguish from willow ptarmigan by habitat – higher elevations and more barren ground. |20–30 subspecies. Arctic and subarctic Eurasia and North America on rocky mountainsides and tundra. Status: Least Concern. |
| White-tailed ptarmigan Lagopus leucura (Richardson, 1831) |File:White-tailed Ptarmigan, Rocky Mountains, Alberta.jpg |Summer: greyish-brown and speckled; winter: white plumage. Males identifiable by reddish eyecombs. The smallest ptarmigan. |Alpine areas above the timberline in North America from Alaska and western Canada to New Mexico. Status: Least Concern. |
=Fossil record=
Two prehistoric species and two paleosubspecies are only known from fossils:
- Lagopus atavus (Early Pliocene of Bulgaria? - Late Pliocene)
- Lagopus balcanicus (Late Pliocene of Varshets, Bulgaria)Boev, Z. 1995. "Middle Villafranchian birds from Varshets (Western Balkan Range - Bulgaria)". In: Peters, D. (ed.). Acta palaeornithologica. 3. Symposium SAPE. 5. Internat. Senckenberg-Konferenz 22–26 Juni 1992. - Courier Forschungsinstitut Senckenberg. Frankfurt a. M., 181: 259-269.
- Lagopus lagopus noaillensis (Pleistocene of W Europe)
- Lagopus mutus correzensis (Pleistocene of W Europe)
References
{{Reflist}}
- Madge, Steve; McGowan, Philip J. K. & Kirwan, Guy M. (2002): Pheasants, partidges and grouse: a guide to the pheasants, partridges, quails, grouse, guineafowl, buttonquails and sandgrouse of the world. Christopher Helm, London. {{ISBN|0-7136-3966-0}}.
External links
- {{Commons category inline}}
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