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Grouse (Tetraonidae)

Rock Ptarmigan (Lagopus mutus) - HBW 2, p. 403

French: Lagopède alpin German: Alpenschneehuhn Spanish: Lagópodo Alpino

Taxonomy: Tetrao mutus Montin, 1776, Sweden.
Occasional hybrids known with L. lagopus, Tetrao tetrix and Bonasa bonasia. Very complex internal taxonomy, largely due to complicated moults. Many races vary only slightly in colour and pattern of summer plumage; sometimes lumped, though in rather different ways: races komensis pleskei and transbaicalicus sometimes included in kelloggae, or all of these in nelsoni, with possible addition of krascheninnikovi and kurilensis; race reinhardi sometimes included in rupestris, macro­rhynchus in nadezd.. View all taxonomy...

Taxonomy: Tetrao mutus Montin, 1776, Sweden.
Occasional hybrids known with L. lagopus, Tetrao tetrix and Bonasa bonasia. Very complex internal taxonomy, largely due to complicated moults. Many races vary only slightly in colour and pattern of summer plumage; sometimes lumped, though in rather different ways: races komensis pleskei and transbaicalicus sometimes included in kelloggae, or all of these in nelsoni, with possible addition of krascheninnikovi and kurilensis; race reinhardi sometimes included in rupestris, macro­rhynchus in nadezdae, and pyrenaicus in helveticus. Thirty subspecies currently recognized.

Subspecies and Distribution:

  • hyperboreus Sundevall, 1845 - Svalbard (Spitsbergen), Franz Josef Land and Bear I.
  • mutus (Montin, 1776) - Norway, N Sweden, N Finland and Kola Peninsula.
  • millaisi Hartert, 1923 - Scotland.

     See all 30 subspecies
  • hyperboreus Sundevall, 1845 - Svalbard (Spitsbergen), Franz Josef Land and Bear I.
  • mutus (Montin, 1776) - Norway, N Sweden, N Finland and Kola Peninsula.
  • millaisi Hartert, 1923 - Scotland.
  • pyrenaicus Hartert, 1921 - Pyrenees.
  • helveticus (Thienemann, 1829) - Alps, from Savoie to C Austria.
  • komensis Serebrovsky, 1929 - N Urals.
  • pleskei Serebrovsky, 1926 - N Siberia, from Taimyr Peninsula to Chukotsky Peninsula.
  • macrorhynchus Serebrovsky, 1926 - Tarbagatai.
  • nadezdae Serebrovsky, 1926 - mountains of S Siberia and Mongolia (Altai, Sayan, Khangai and others).
  • transbaicalicus Serebrovsky, 1926 - SE Siberia, from L Baikal to Sea of Okhotsk.
  • krascheninnikovi Potapov, 1985 - Kamchatka.
  • ridgwayi Stejneger, 1884 - Commander Is.
  • kurilensis Kuroda, 1924 - Kuril Is.
  • japonicus Clark, 1907 - C Honshu (Japan).
  • evermanni Elliot, 1896 - Attu I (Aleutian Is).
  • townsendi Elliot, 1896 - Kiska I (Aleutian Is).
  • gabrielsoni Murie, 1944 - Amchitka I (Aleutian Is).
  • sanfordi Bent, 1912 - Tanaga I and Kanaga I (Aleutian Is).
  • chamberlaini Clark, 1907 - Adak I (Aleutian Is).
  • atkhensis Turner, 1882 - Atka I (Aleutian Is).
  • yunaskensis Gabrielson & Lincoln, 1959 - Yunaska I (Aleutian Is).
  • nelsoni Stejneger, 1884 - Unimak, Unalaska and Amaknak Is (Aleutian Is).
  • dixoni Grinnell, 1909 - Glacier Bay islands and adjacent mainland (SE Alaska).
  • kelloggae Grinnell, 1910 - Alaska and N Yukon.
  • rupestris (Gmelin, 1789) - N Canada, from Melville I and Ellesmere I to C British Columbia, S Mackenzie, Southampton I, N Quebec and Labrador.
  • captus Peters, 1934 - E Greenland.
  • saturatus Salomonsen, 1950 - NW Greenland.
  • reinhardi (C. L. Brehm, 1824) - SW Greenland.
  • welchi Brewster, 1885 - Newfoundland.
  • islandorum (Faber, 1822) - Iceland.
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