Lyrurus

Lyrurus is a genus of birds in the grouse subfamily. They are known as black grouse because the male's plumage of both species is colored black as its base colour.

Lyrurus Temporal range: Early Pliocene to recent
Black grouse (Lyrurus tetrix)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Galliformes
Family:	Phasianidae
Tribe:	Tetraonini
Genus:	Lyrurus Swainson, 1832
Type species
Tetrao tetrix (black grouse) Linnaeus, 1758
Species
Lyrurus tetrix Lyrurus mlokosiewiczi

Taxonomy

The genus Lyrurus was introduced in 1832 by the English naturalist William Swainson with the black grouse as the type species.^[1] The genus name combines the Ancient Greek lura meaning "lyre" with -ouros meaning "-tailed".^[2]

Species

The genus contains two species:^[3]

Genus Lyrurus – Swainson, 1832 – two species

Common name	Scientific name and subspecies	Range	Size and ecology	IUCN status and estimated population
Black grouse	Lyrurus tetrix (Linnaeus, 1758) Six subspecies L. t. baikalensis (Lorenz T., 1911) L. t. britannicus (Witherby & Lönnberg, 1913) L. t. mongolicus (Lönnberg, 1904) L. t. tetrix (Linnaeus, 1758) L. t. ussuriensis (Kohts, 1911) L. t. viridanus (Lorenz T., 1891)	Europe (Swiss-Italian-French Alps specially) from Great Britain (but not Ireland) through Scandinavia and Estonia, eastwards through Russia and parts of Kazakhstan, Mongolia, and China	Size: Habitat: Diet:	LC
Caucasian grouse	Lyrurus mlokosiewiczi (Taczanowski, 1875)	The Caucasus, specifically the Caucasus Mountains	Size: Habitat: Diet:	LC