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Bison latifrons

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Bison latifrons
Temporal range: Late Pleistocene
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Bison latifrons skeleton
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Artiodactyla
Family: Bovidae
Subfamily: Bovinae
Genus: Bison
Species:
†B. latifrons
Binomial name
†Bison latifrons
Harlan, 1825[1]

Bison latifrons, also known as the giant bison or long-horned bison, is an extinct species of bison that lived in North America during the Late Pleistocene epoch ranging from southern Canada to Mexico.[2] It is noted for large body size and its distinctive long horns.[3]

Description

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Because only skulls and horns of this species have been found well preserved, the size of B. latifrons is currently not clearly known. Based on leg bones, the mass of B. latifrons has been estimated to be 25-50 percent larger than that of modern B. bison, making it undoubtedly one of the largest-ever ruminants.[4][5]

The known dimensions of the species are on average larger than any extinct and extant bovids, including both the American bison and the European bison, making it the largest known bovid. Overall, it was probably around 4.75 m (15.6 ft) in length and stood about 2.3 m (7.5 ft) or up to 2.5 m (8.2 ft)[6] tall at the withers.[7] With an estimated weight of 1,250 kg (2,760 lb)[8][9] to 2,000 kg (4,400 lb),[10] B. latifrons was one of the largest ruminants ever, rivaled in mass only by the modern giraffe and the prehistoric long-horned buffalo Pelorovis. Fossil measurements of B. priscus gigas indicate the species was potentially analogous to B. latifrons both in morphology and habitat selection, attaining similar body sizes and horns that were up to 210 centimeters (83 in) apart.[11]

The horns of B. latifrons measured as great as 213 centimeters (84 in) from tip to tip, compared with 66 cm (26 in) to 90 cm (35 in) in modern Bison bison.[12][13]

Evolution

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Skull at the Royal Tyrell Museum in Drumheller, Alberta, Canada

Bison latifrons is thought to have evolved in North America from Bison priscus (sometimes called the steppe bison) another prehistoric species of bison that migrated across the Bering Land Bridge around 195–135,000 years ago, before dispersing southwards around 130,000 years ago. The earliest fossil Bison latifrons, as well as one of the oldest well dated bison specimens in central North America, is from the Snowmass site in Colorado, dating to the Last Interglacial (Sangamonian), around 120,000 years ago.[3] It has been suggested that a population of B. latifrons gave rise to Bison antiquus, the ancestor of modern American bison before 60,000 years ago with the two species co-existing alongside each other.[14]

Habitat and behavior

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Bison latifrons ranged across much of North America, extending from southern Mexico to southern Canada, as far west as California and as far east as Florida and the American Midwest.[2] Though it was primarily a grazer, B. latifrons exhibited a high degree of dietary flexibility and adaptability across its range.[15] Isotopic analysis from specimens found in Florida suggests a largely grazing based diet,[16] while isotopic analysis of specimens from Clark Quarry, Georgia, suggest that these specimens had a mixed feeding diet (both browsing and grazing), with their diet varying according to the seasons.[17]

Extinction

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While many studies have suggested that the B. latifrons went extinct around or before 20,000 years ago, a 2022 study reported remains from South Texas dating to around 13,000 years Before Present.[18] Pressure from human hunting may have played a role in the extinction of B. latifrons.[19]

References

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  1. ^ Harlan, R (1825). "Bos latifrons, (nobis.): Broad headed Fossil Ox". Fauna americana: being a description of the mammiferous animals inhabiting North America. Philadelphia: Anthony Finley. p. 273.
  2. ^ a b Carrillo-López, R.; Velasco-Rodríguez, A.; Vásquez-Simon, R.; Valera-Venegas, G.; Jiménez-Hidalgo, E. (2023-08-28). "New records of Bison (Mammalia: Bovidae) from Southern Mexico and some comments on their distribution and biochronology". PalZ. 98: 145–159. doi:10.1007/s12542-023-00665-7. ISSN 0031-0220.
  3. ^ a b Froese, Duane; Stiller, Mathias; Heintzman, Peter D.; Reyes, Alberto V.; Zazula, Grant D.; Soares, André E. R.; Meyer, Matthias; Hall, Elizabeth; Jensen, Britta J. L.; Arnold, Lee J.; MacPhee, Ross D. E.; Shapiro, Beth (28 March 2017). "Fossil and genomic evidence constrains the timing of bison arrival in North America". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 114 (13): 3457–3462. Bibcode:2017PNAS..114.3457F. doi:10.1073/pnas.1620754114. PMC 5380047. PMID 28289222.
  4. ^ Hoganson, JW (2002). "Occurrence of the Giant Ice Age Bison, Bison latifrons, in North Dakota" (PDF). NDGS Newsletter. 29 (2): 1–3. ISSN 0889-3594. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2017-01-25. Retrieved 2008-08-18.
  5. ^ "Bison Latifrons - Characteristics, Behavior and Habitat of Bison Latifrons, the Giant Bison". Dinosaurs.about.com. 2010-12-18. Archived from the original on 2013-11-10. Retrieved 2012-05-13.
  6. ^ Fabian Cerón Hardy, 2015, Stable Isotope Analysis of Bison latifrons and Paleoecological Inferences, "1 - Introduction", UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones. 2478.
  7. ^ Extinct Long-horned Bison & Ancient Bison (Bison latifrons and B. antiquus) Fact Sheet: Summary
  8. ^ East, Shirley G. (2011-12-29). The Dream Hunters Epoch: The Paleo Indians Series. Xlibris Corporation. ISBN 9781465396945.
  9. ^ Fariña, Richard A.; Vizcaíno, Sergio F.; Iuliis, Gerry De (2013-05-22). Megafauna: Giant Beasts of Pleistocene South America. Indiana University Press. ISBN 978-0253007193.
  10. ^ Bison Latifrons – Characteristics, Behavior and Habitat of Bison Latifrons, the Giant Bison Archived 2013-11-10 at the Wayback Machine.Dinosaurs.about.com (2010-12-18)
  11. ^ C. C. Flerow, 1977, Gigantic Bisons of Asia, Journal of the Palaeontological Society of India, Vol. 20, pp.77-80
  12. ^ Kurten, B; Anderson, E (1980). "Order Artiodactyla". Pleistocene mammals of North America (1st ed.). New York: Columbia University Press. pp. 295–339. ISBN 0-231-03733-3.
  13. ^ William Henry Burt, 1976, A Field Guide to the Mammals: North America North of Mexico, p.224, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
  14. ^ Zver, Lars; Toškan, Borut; Bužan, Elena (September 2021). "Phylogeny of Late Pleistocene and Holocene Bison species in Europe and North America". Quaternary International. 595: 30–38. Bibcode:2021QuInt.595...30Z. doi:10.1016/j.quaint.2021.04.022.
  15. ^ Hardy, Fabian Cerón; Rowland, Stephen M. (15 June 2024). "Stable isotopic analysis of fossil Bison tooth enamel indicates flexible dietary ecology across Pleistocene North America". Quaternary Science Reviews. 334: 108741. doi:10.1016/j.quascirev.2024.108741. Retrieved 25 September 2024 – via Elsevier Science Direct.
  16. ^ Yann, Lindsey T.; DeSantis, Larisa R.G. (November 2014). "Effects of Pleistocene climates on local environments and dietary behavior of mammals in Florida". Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology. 414: 370–381. Bibcode:2014PPP...414..370Y. doi:10.1016/j.palaeo.2014.09.020.
  17. ^ Noble, Elizabeth J.; McManus, Julia G.; Mead, Alfred J.; Mead, Heidi; Seminack, Christopher; Balco, William; Bennett, Todd; Crain, Nicole M.; Duckworth, Cory; Malasek, Taylor; Pearson, Jason Z.; Rhinehart, Parker; Ussery, Madison E.; Sun, Yu; Patterson, Jessica R. (May 2020). "Enamel isotopes reveal late Pleistocene ecosystem dynamics in southeastern North America". Quaternary Science Reviews. 236: 106284. Bibcode:2020QSRv..23606284N. doi:10.1016/j.quascirev.2020.106284.
  18. ^ Baskin, J., R. Walls, and R. Thomas. 2022. Bison antiquus and B. latifrons from the latest Rancholabrean (latest Pleistocene), Nueces River Valley, South Texas. New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science Bulletin 88: 213.
  19. ^ Valerius Geist, 1996, Buffalo Nation, "The Advent of a Giant Bison", pp.22-30, Voyageur Press
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