~ Home ~ Visitor Info & Map ~ Hudson-Meng Museum & Research Center ~ Hudson-Meng History ~Archaeology & Geology Links~ Bison Information ~
 |
||
|
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata Class: Mammalia Order: Artiodactyla Family: Bovidae Subfamily: Bovinae Genus: Bison Species: Bison bison |
||
|
The North American Bison
The first bovid (cow-like) mammal appeared in Europe about 22 million years ago. For the next 17 million years the bovid adapted into many forms...as sheep, goats, antelope, cattle and bison; the animals recognized today. About 1 million years ago the bison migrated into North America. Several species of bison occupied various parts of North America simultaneously. One early bison was the "steppe wisent" and the mummified carcass of this type of bison was found in the permafrost of Alaska. It lived 36,000 years ago and is known as Blue Babe. Another type of North American bison was the Bison latifrons. This very large bison (25% larger than today's bison) had horns that could measure up to nine feet, tip to tip and lived along side the mammoths and mastodons. With climate and vegetation changing due to a general warming, the bison again adapted enough to be recognized as Bison antiquus, the antique bison. Hunted by early Paleo Indains, this species of bison roamed from Alaska to Nicaragua, from the Ohio Valley to California. In certain regions a subspecies, B. antiquus occidentalis, evolved, then changed again by about 4,500 years ago to become the North American bison, Bison bison, of today. Hudson-Meng Bison Hudson-Meng bison represent an intermediate, or transitional form, in what might be considered as the quantum jump from Bison antiquus, or occidentalis to Bison bison. That is, they reflect one point on a transitional curve from the larger, extinct forms, to smaller, modern forms of bison. Although no diagnostic skulls were present at Hudson-Meng, post-cranial analysis of the bones has been completed. Comparisons were made with the Bonfire (Bonfire Shelter) bison as, at Bonfire and at Hudson-Meng, there is a lack of skull caps and tail bones in both deposits. Another similarity of the Bonfire bone deposit is the Bone Bed 3 (modern bison) "is concluded to represent the remains of a single herd of some 800 animals," comparing with the estimated 600 animals at Hudson-Meng, in what is considered a single event. It is apparent that calves and juveniles are very abundant in the Hudson-Meng bone deposit, leaving clues as to the type of herd (cow/calf) and the time of year. Additonal bison information links: |