''Tympanuchus'' is a small genus of birds in the

grouse Grouse are a group of birds from the order Galliformes, in the family Phasianidae. Grouse are presently assigned to the tribe Tetraonini (formerly the subfamily Tetraoninae and the family Tetraonidae), a classification supported by mitochondria ...

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 Constantin Wilhelm Lambert Gloger (17 September 1803 near Grottkau, Silesia, Kingdom of Prussia – 30 December 1863 in Berlin) was a German zoologist and ornithologist. Gloger was the first person to recognise the structural differences betwee ...

for the

greater prairie chicken The greater prairie chicken or pinnated grouse (''Tympanuchus cupido''), sometimes called a boomer,Friederici, Peter (July 20, 1989)"The Last Prairie Chickens" ''Chicago Reader''. Retrieved August 27, 2014.（Chinese 中文：帕艺明彩大凤� ...

. The name combines the

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic p ...

''tumpanon'' meaning "kettle-drum" with ''ēkheō'' meaning "to sound". The genus contains three species: All three are among the smaller grouse, from 40 to 43 cm (16 to 17 in) in length. They are found in North America in different types of

prairie Prairies are ecosystems considered part of the temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands biome by ecologists, based on similar temperate climates, moderate rainfall, and a composition of grasses, herbs, and shrubs, rather than trees, as the ...

. 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

roots and means "holding a drum"; it refers to the

membranous A membrane is a selective barrier; it allows some things to pass through but stops others. Such things may be molecules, ions, or other small particles. Membranes can be generally classified into synthetic membranes and biological membranes. ...

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 still yet to be discover. There are still unknown information about these genus. 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). * * Peterson, Alan P. (Editor). 1999
''Zoological Nomenclature Resource'' (Zoonomen)
Accessed 2007-07-29. * * Bird genera {{Galliformes-stub