3. Allen:

"This is Alamac in the Alfonsine Tables and 1515 Almagest; Riccioli's Alamak; Flamsteed's Alamech; now Almach, Almak, Alamaack, and Almaac or Almaak; all from Al 'Anāk al 'Ard, a small predatory animal of Arabia, similar to a badger, and popularly known there as Al Barīd.

Scaliger's conjecture that it is from Al Mauk, the Buskin, although likely enough for a star marking the left foot of Andromeda, is not accepted; for Ulug Beg, a century and a half previously, as well as Al Tizini and the Arabic globes before him, gave it the animal's name in full. But the propriety of such a designation here is not obvious in connection with Andromeda, and would indicate that it belonged to very early Arab astronomy."

Wikipedia identifies this little predator with the caracal:

"Gamma Andromedae ... is the third brightest star in the constellation of Andromeda. It is also known by the traditional name Almach (also spelt as Almaach, Almaack, Almak, Almaak, or Alamak), from the Arabic العناق الأرض al-‘anāq al-’arđ ... 'the caracal' (desert lynx).

Another term for this star used by medieval astronomers writing in Arabic was آلرخل المسلسلة Al Rijl al Musalsalah 'the Woman's Foot'.

In Chinese, 天大將軍 (Tiān Dà Jiāng Jūn), meaning Heaven's Great General, refers to an asterism consisting of γ Andromedae, φ Persei, 51 Andromedae, 49 Andromedae, χ Andromedae, υ Andromedae, τ Andromedae, 56 Andromedae, β Trianguli, γ Trianguli and δ Trianguli. Consequently, γ Andromedae itself is known as 天大將軍一 (Tiān Dà Jiāng Jūn yī, English: the First Star of Heaven's Great General.)

In the catalogue of stars in the Calendarium of Al Achsasi al Mouakket, this star was designated جمس ألنعامة Khamis al Naamat, which was translated into Latin as Quinta Struthionum, meaning the fifth ostrich."

The desert lynx is a little cat, which - I imagine - illustrates a quadruped with solar characteristics. At the beginning the Sun Cat is not yet like a Lion:

"The name 'lynx' originated in Middle English via Latin from Greek word 'λύγξ', derived from the Indo-European root '*leuk-', meaning 'light, brightness' ..." (Wikipedia)

The most striking sign of a lynx is the tufts of hair on the ears, which draws the attention of the observer. Perhaps it is possible to compare with the birthplace of Maui:

... 'From the time I was in your womb,' Maui went on, 'I have known the names of these children of yours. Listen,' he said as he pointed to his brothers in turn. 'You are Maui mua, you are Maui roto, you are Maui taha, and you are Maui pae. And as for me, I am Maui potiki, Maui-the-last-born. And here I am.'

When he had finished, Taranga had to wipe her eyes because there were tears in them, and she said: 'You are indeed my lastborn son. You are the child of my old age. When I had you, no one knew, and what you have been saying is the truth. Well, as you were formed out of my topknot you can be Maui tikitiki a Taranga.' So that became his name, meaning Maui-formed-in-the-topknot-of-Taranga. And this is very strange, because women in those days did not have topknots. The topknot was the most sacred part of a person, and only men had them ...

"Caracal ... feline animal of N. Africa ... F. or Sp. caracal - Turk. qarahqulaq, f. qarah black + qulak ear." (English Etymology)

The head is the beginning but it comes 'behind' the topknot, which - Saturn and number 5 (as in 'fire') - in turn comes 'behind' number 4 (as in the last quarter of the solar year). This seems to cast light on why Alamak also was named the 'fifth ostrich'.

The idea of a knot as an illustration of the dark nights between one year and the next agrees with the position of Alrisha (α Piscium), which is rising immediately before Alamak.