Tympanuchus Explained

Tympanuchus is a small genus of birds in the grouse family. They are commonly referred to as prairie-chickens.

Taxonomy

The genus Tympanuchus was introduced in 1841 by the German zoologist Constantin Wilhelm Lambert Gloger for the greater prairie chicken.^{[1] [2]} The name combines the Ancient Greek tumpanon meaning "kettle-drum" with ēkheō meaning "to sound".^[3]

The genus contains three species:^[4]

All three are among the smaller grouse, from in length. They are found in North America in different types of prairie. In courtship display on leks, males make hooting sounds and dance with the head extended straight forward, the tail up, and colorful neck sacks inflated (shown in the photograph at upper right). Tympanuchus comes from Ancient Greek roots and means "holding a drum"; it refers to the membranous neck sacks and the drum-like call of the greater prairie chicken.

The two prairie chickens are particularly closely related and look extremely similar. But their taxonomy and the evolutionary relationships of the Tympanuchus is yet to be discovered. There is still unknown information about these genera. But one thing we do know is that Tympanuchus are polyphyletic. They have a strong sexual selection (Galla, 2013).

They are commonly seen in the North American Prairies (Galla, 2013).

The extinct heath hen of the American East Coast, usually considered a subspecies of the greater prairie chicken, has been considered a separate species.

References

• Galla, S. J. (2013). Exploring the evolutionary history of north american prairie grouse using multi-locus coalescent analyses (Order No. 1524962).
• Book: Holloway, Joel Ellis . 2003 . Dictionary of Birds of the United States: Scientific and Common Names . Timber Press . 206 . 0-88192-600-0.
• Peterson, Alan P. (Editor). 1999. Zoological Nomenclature Resource (Zoonomen). Accessed 2007-07-29.
• Book: Sibley, David . David Allen Sibley . . Knopf . 2000 . 146–147 . 0-679-45122-6 .
• Book: Storch, Ilse . Bendell, J. F. . 2003 . Firefly Encyclopedia of Birds . Grouse . Christopher Perrins . Christopher Perrins . 184–187 . Firefly Books . 1-55297-777-3 . https://archive.org/details/fireflyencyclope0000unse/page/184 .

Notes and References

1. Book: Gloger, Constantin Wilhelm Lambert . C. L. Gloger . 1841 . Gemeinnütziges Hand- und Hilfsbuch der Naturgeschichte . 1 . German . Breslau . A. Schulz . 396 .
2. Book: Peters . James Lee . James L. Peters . 1934 . Check-List of Birds of the World . 2 . Harvard University Press . Cambridge, Massachusetts . 41 .
3. Book: Jobling, James A. . 2010. The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names . Christopher Helm . London . 978-1-4081-2501-4 . 393 .
4. Web site: Gill . Frank . Frank Gill (ornithologist) . Donsker . David . Rasmussen . Pamela . Pamela Rasmussen . July 2021 . Pheasants, partridges, francolins . IOC World Bird List Version 11.2 . International Ornithologists' Union . 11 October 2021.