Etymology
The Ptarmigan's genus name, Lagopus, is derived from Ancient Greek lagos (λαγως), meaning "hare", + pous (πους), "foot", in reference to the bird's feathered legs (see also Snowshoe hare).
The species name, muta, comes from New Latin and means "mute", referring to the simple croaking song of the male. It was for a long time misspelt mutus, in the erroneous belief that the ending of Lagopus denotes masculine gender. However, as the Ancient Greek term λαγωπους is of feminine gender, and the species name has to agree with that, the feminine muta is correct.
The word ptarmigan comes from the Scottish Gaelic tàrmachan, literally croaker. The silent initial p was added in 1684 by Robert Sibbald through the influence of Greek, especially pteron (πτερον), "wing", "feather" or "pinion".
Read more about this topic: Rock Ptarmigan
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