Superregnum: Eukaryota
Regnum: Animalia
Subregnum: Eumetazoa
Cladus: Bilateria
Cladus: Nephrozoa
Superphylum: Deuterostomia
Phylum: Chordata
Cladus: Craniata
Subphylum: Vertebrata
Infraphylum: Gnathostomata
Superclassis: Tetrapoda
Cladus: Reptiliomorpha
Cladus: Amniota
Classis: Reptilia
Cladus: Eureptilia
Cladus: Romeriida
Subclassis: Diapsida
Cladus: Sauria
Infraclassis: Archosauromorpha
Cladus: Crurotarsi
Divisio: Archosauria
Subsectio: Ornithodira
Subtaxon: Dinosauromorpha
Cladus: Dinosauria
Ordo: Saurischia
Cladus: Theropoda
Cladus: Neotheropoda
Infraclassis: Aves
Cladus: Euavialae
Cladus: Avebrevicauda
Cladus: Pygostylia
Cladus: Ornithothoraces
Cladus: Euornithes
Cladus: Ornithuromorpha
Cladus: Ornithurae
Cladus: Carinatae
Parvclassis: Neornithes
Cohors: Neognathae
Cladus: Galloanseres
Familia: Phasianidae
Subfamilia: Tetraoninae
Genus: Dendragapus
Species: D. fuliginosus – D. obscurus
Name
Dendragapus Elliot, 1864
References
Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia 16: 23.
The genus Dendragapus contains two closely related species of grouse that have often been treated as a single variable taxon (blue grouse). The two species are the dusky grouse (Dendragapus obscurus) and the sooty grouse (Dendragapus fuliginosus).[1] In addition, the spruce grouse and Siberian grouse have been considered part of this genus.
Females of both species (sooty grouse pictured) are mottled brown with dark brown and white marks on the underparts.
In breeding plumage, this sooty grouse male is typical of the species. It is dark grey with a yellow wattle over the eye. The tail is long and black with a square pale gray tip.
Description
These are large grouse that inhabit highland regions of North America and Eurasia. The sooty grouse is found in the Pacific Coast Ranges and Sierra Nevada, and the dusky grouse in the Rocky Mountains.[2][3][4] These two taxa were originally regarded as separate species, but were considered conspecific for much of the twentieth century. However, in 2006 the American Ornithologists' Union re-split them,[1] following the DNA-based work of Barrowclough et al. (2004).[5] whose results supported the earlier work of Brooks (1929)[6] who regarded the two taxa as separate species based on morphology, behavior and vocalizations. The precise ranges of the two species are well-defined in the south, separated by extensive areas of unsuitable forest-free habitat, but somewhat uncertain in the north of the range of the genus where there is no separation; Barrowclough et al.'s study did not include these northern populations.
Adults have a long square tail, gray at the end (lighter in the sooty grouse). Adult males are mainly dark (especially sooty grouse) with a yellow (sooty grouse) or purplish (dusky grouse) throat air sac surrounded by white, and a yellow (sooty grouse) or yellow-to-red (dusky grouse) wattle over the eye during display. Adult females of both species are mottled brown with dark brown and white marks on the underparts.[4]
Their breeding habitat is the edges of conifer and mixed forests in mountainous regions of North America and Eurasia. Their range is closely associated with that of various conifers. The nest is a scrape on the ground concealed under a shrub or log.
All species have healthy populations, except for some population decline and habitat loss of the sooty grouse at the southern end of its range in southern California.,[2] and the Siberian grouse which is considered near-threatened.
Species
Extant Species
| Male | Female | Name | Common name | Distribution |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
 |
Dendragapus obscurus | Dusky grouse | the Rocky Mountains in North America |
 |
 |
Dendragapus fuliginosus | Sooty grouse | from southeastern Alaska and Yukon south to California |
Fossils
Late Pleistocene fossil species that have been described are Dendragapus gilli (western and west-central US), initially placed in a distinct genus Palaeotetrix, and Dendragapus lucasi (known only from Fossil Lake, US).
References
Banks, R. C.; Cicero, C.; Dunn, J. L.; Kratter, A. W.; Rasmussen, P. C.; Remsen, J. V. Jr.; Rising, J. D.; Stotz, D. F. (2006). "Forty-seventh Supplement to the American Ornithologists' Union Check-list of North American Birds" (PDF). The Auk. 123 (3): 926–936. doi:10.1642/0004-8038(2006)123[926:FSTTAO]2.0.CO;2. ISSN 0004-8038. Retrieved 2007-09-16.
del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A., & Sargatal, J., eds. (1994). Handbook of the Birds of the World 2: 401–402. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona ISBN 84-87334-15-6.
Zwickel, Fred C.; Bendell, James F. (2004). Blue Grouse: Their Biology and Natural History. Ottawa: NRC Research Press. ISBN 978-0-660-19271-0. Archived from the original on 2007-12-25. Retrieved 2008-05-08.
Sibley, D. (2000). The Sibley Guide to Birds. Knopf. pp. 143. ISBN 0-679-45122-6.
Barrowclough, G. F.; Groth, J. G.; Mertz, L. A. & Gutierrez, R. J. (2004). "Phylogeographic structure, gene flow and species status in Blue Grouse (Dendragapus obscurus)" (PDF). Molecular Ecology. 13 (7): 1911–1922. doi:10.1111/j.1365-294X.2004.02215.x. PMID 15189213. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2007-07-13.
Brooks, A. (1929). "On Dendragapus obscurus obscurus" (PDF). The Auk. 46: 111–113. doi:10.2307/4075798.
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/"
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License
