Lagopus
Encyclopedia
Lagopus is a small genus of bird
s in the grouse
subfamily. It contains three existing species.
The distinctive British
form of Willow Grouse, the Red Grouse
(Lagopus lagopus scotica) has sometimes been considered a separate species, L. scotica, but this is no longer accepted.
Two prehistoric
species and two paleosubspecies
are only known from fossil
s:
species, White-tailed Ptarmigan is an North American alpine
bird, and Ptarmigan breeds in both Arctic
and mountain habitats across Eurasia
and North America. They are sedentary species, all, with the exception of the Red Grouse, having a white winter plumage that helps them blend into the snowy background. Indeed, 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 predator
s by not being seen than by flying away.
These are hardy vegetarian birds, but insect
s are also taken by the developing young. In all species except for the Willow Grouse, the female takes all responsibility for nesting and caring for the chicks, as is typical with gamebirds
.
The genus name Lagopus is derived from Ancient Greek
lagos (λαγως), meaning "hare
", + pous (πους), "foot", in reference to the feathered feet and toes typical of this cold-adapted group (see also 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 λαγωπους is of feminine gender, and the specific epithet has to agree with that, the feminine muta and leucura are correct.
Bird
Birds are feathered, winged, bipedal, endothermic , egg-laying, vertebrate animals. Around 10,000 living species and 188 families makes them the most speciose class of tetrapod vertebrates. They inhabit ecosystems across the globe, from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Extant birds range in size from...
s in the grouse
Grouse
Grouse are a group of birds from the order Galliformes. They are sometimes considered a family Tetraonidae, though the American Ornithologists' Union and many others include grouse as a subfamily Tetraoninae in the family Phasianidae...
subfamily. It contains three existing species.
Species
- Willow Ptarmigan (name in North AmericaNorth AmericaNorth America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
) or Willow Grouse, Lagopus lagopus - Rock Ptarmigan (Ptarmigan in EuropeEuropeEurope is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
), Lagopus muta - White-tailed PtarmiganWhite-tailed PtarmiganThe White-tailed Ptarmigan, Lagopus leucura, is the smallest bird in the grouse family. It is found in the mountains of the western United States, Canada and Alaska.-Description:...
, Lagopus leucura
The distinctive British
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
form of Willow Grouse, the Red Grouse
Red grouse
The Red Grouse is a medium sized bird of the grouse family which is found in heather moorland in Great Britain and Ireland. It is usually classified as a subspecies of the Willow Grouse but is sometimes considered to be a separate species Lagopus scoticus...
(Lagopus lagopus scotica) has sometimes been considered a separate species, L. scotica, but this is no longer accepted.
Two prehistoric
Prehistory
Prehistory is the span of time before recorded history. Prehistory can refer to the period of human existence before the availability of those written records with which recorded history begins. More broadly, it refers to all the time preceding human existence and the invention of writing...
species and two paleosubspecies
Chronospecies
A chronospecies describes a group of one or more species derived from a sequential development pattern which involves continual and uniform changes from an extinct ancestral form on an evolutionary scale. This sequence of alterations eventually produces a population which is physically,...
are only known from fossil
Fossil
Fossils are the preserved remains or traces of animals , plants, and other organisms from the remote past...
s:
- Lagopus atavus (Early PlioceneZancleanThe Zanclean is the lowest stage or earliest age on the geologic time scale of the Pliocene. It spans the time between 5.332 and 3.6 Ma ± 0.005 Ma . It is preceded by the Messinian age of the Miocene epoch, and followed by the Piacenzian age....
of BulgariaBulgariaBulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...
? - Late PliocenePiacenzianThe Piacenzian is in the international geologic timescale the upper stage or latest age of the Pliocene. It spans the time between 3.6 ± 0.005 Ma and 2.588 ± 0.005 Ma...
) - Lagopus balcanicus (Late Pliocene of VarshetsVarshetsVarshets is a spa town in Montana Province, northwestern Bulgaria. It is the administrative centre of the homonymous Varshets Municipality. As of December 2009, its population is 6,538. The town is located on the northern slopes of the western part of the Balkan mountains in the small valley of...
, Bulgaria) - Lagopus lagopus noaillensis (PleistocenePleistoceneThe Pleistocene is the epoch from 2,588,000 to 11,700 years BP that spans the world's recent period of repeated glaciations. The name pleistocene is derived from the Greek and ....
of W EuropeWestern EuropeWestern Europe is a loose term for the collection of countries in the western most region of the European continents, though this definition is context-dependent and carries cultural and political connotations. One definition describes Western Europe as a geographic entity—the region lying in the...
) - Lagopus mutus correzensis (Pleistocene of W Europe)
Description
The three species are all specialists of cold regions. Willow Grouse is a circumpolar boreal forestTaiga
Taiga , also known as the boreal forest, is a biome characterized by coniferous forests.Taiga is the world's largest terrestrial biome. In North America it covers most of inland Canada and Alaska as well as parts of the extreme northern continental United States and is known as the Northwoods...
species, White-tailed Ptarmigan is an North American alpine
Alpine climate
Alpine climate is the average weather for a region above the tree line. This climate is also referred to as mountain climate or highland climate....
bird, and Ptarmigan breeds in both Arctic
Arctic
The Arctic is a region located at the northern-most part of the Earth. The Arctic consists of the Arctic Ocean and parts of Canada, Russia, Greenland, the United States, Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Iceland. The Arctic region consists of a vast, ice-covered ocean, surrounded by treeless permafrost...
and mountain habitats across Eurasia
Eurasia
Eurasia is a continent or supercontinent comprising the traditional continents of Europe and Asia ; covering about 52,990,000 km2 or about 10.6% of the Earth's surface located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres...
and North America. They are sedentary species, all, with the exception of the Red Grouse, having a white winter plumage that helps them blend into the snowy background. Indeed, 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
Bali Starling
The Bali Starling , also known as Rothschild’s Mynah, Bali Myna, or Bali Mynah, locally known as Jalak Bali, is a medium-sized , stocky myna, almost wholly white with a long, drooping crest, and black tips on the wings and tail. The bird has blue bare skin around the eyes, greyish legs and a yellow...
) because melanin
Melanin
Melanin is a pigment that is ubiquitous in nature, being found in most organisms . In animals melanin pigments are derivatives of the amino acid tyrosine. The most common form of biological melanin is eumelanin, a brown-black polymer of dihydroxyindole carboxylic acids, and their reduced forms...
makes them more resilient and thus improves flight performance, the Lagopus grouse apparently found it easier to escape predator
Predation
In ecology, predation describes a biological interaction where a predator feeds on its prey . Predators may or may not kill their prey prior to feeding on them, but the act of predation always results in the death of its prey and the eventual absorption of the prey's tissue through consumption...
s by not being seen than by flying away.
These are hardy vegetarian birds, but insect
Insect
Insects are a class of living creatures within the arthropods that have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body , three pairs of jointed legs, compound eyes, and two antennae...
s are also taken by the developing young. In all species except for the Willow Grouse, the female takes all responsibility for nesting and caring for the chicks, as is typical with gamebirds
Game (food)
Game is any animal hunted for food or not normally domesticated. Game animals are also hunted for sport.The type and range of animals hunted for food varies in different parts of the world. This will be influenced by climate, animal diversity, local taste and locally accepted view about what can or...
.
The genus name Lagopus is derived from Ancient Greek
Ancient Greek
Ancient Greek is the stage of the Greek language in the periods spanning the times c. 9th–6th centuries BC, , c. 5th–4th centuries BC , and the c. 3rd century BC – 6th century AD of ancient Greece and the ancient world; being predated in the 2nd millennium BC by Mycenaean Greek...
lagos (λαγως), meaning "hare
Hare
Hares and jackrabbits are leporids belonging to the genus Lepus. Hares less than one year old are called leverets. Four species commonly known as types of hare are classified outside of Lepus: the hispid hare , and three species known as red rock hares .Hares are very fast-moving...
", + pous (πους), "foot", in reference to the feathered feet and toes typical of this cold-adapted group (see also Snowshoe Hare
Snowshoe Hare
The Snowshoe Hare , also called the Varying Hare, or Snowshoe Rabbit, is a species of hare found in North America. It has the name "snowshoe" because of the large size of its hind feet and the marks its tail leaves. The animal's feet prevent it from sinking into the snow when it hops and walks...
). 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
Grammatical gender
Grammatical gender is defined linguistically as a system of classes of nouns which trigger specific types of inflections in associated words, such as adjectives, verbs and others. For a system of noun classes to be a gender system, every noun must belong to one of the classes and there should be...
. However, as the Ancient Greek term λαγωπους is of feminine gender, and the specific epithet has to agree with that, the feminine muta and leucura are correct.