Tetrao is a genus of birds in the grouse subfamily known as capercaillies. They are some of the largest living grouse and can be found in the forested areas of the Palearctic realm.
Feathers from the bird were used to decorate the characteristic hat of the bersaglieri, an Italian ace infantry formation.
Taxonomy
The
genus Tetrao was introduced in 1758 by the Swedish naturalist
Carl Linnaeus in the tenth edition of his
Systema Naturae.
The genus name is the
Latin word for a game bird, probably a
black grouse.
The black grouse was included by Linnaeus in the genus
Tetrao but is now placed in the genus
Lyrurus.
[ The type species was designated as the western capercaillie ( Tetrao urogallus) by George Robert Gray in 1840.]
Species
The genus contains two species:
The fossil record of this genus is extensive:
-
† Tetrao conjugens (Early Pliocene of C Europe)
-
† Tetrao rhodopensis (Early Pliocene of Dorkovo, Bulgaria)
-
† Tetrao partium (Early Pliocene - Early Pleistocene of SE Europe)
-
† Tetrao macropus (Late Pliocene - Early Pleistocene of Hungary)
-
† Tetrao praeurogallus (Early - Middle Pleistocene of E Europe)
