{{Short description|Extinct species of mammal}} {{Speciesbox | fossil_range = {{Fossilrange|Late Pleistocene}} | image = Bison latifrons fossil buffalo (Pleistocene; North America) 1 (15257877377).jpg | image_caption = ''Bison latifrons'' skeleton | genus = Bison | species = latifrons | authority = Harlan, 1825<ref name=Harlan1825>{{cite book|last=Harlan|first=R|author-link=Richard Harlan|title=Fauna americana: being a description of the mammiferous animals inhabiting North America|chapter=Bos latifrons, (nobis.): Broad headed Fossil Ox|page=273|publisher=Anthony Finley|location=Philadelphia|year=1825|chapter-url=https://archive.org/stream/60930050R.nlm.nih.gov/60930050R#page/n276/mode/1up/search/bison}}</ref> | extinct = yes }}
'''''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.<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal |last1=Carrillo-López |first1=R. |last2=Velasco-Rodríguez |first2=A. |last3=Vásquez-Simon |first3=R. |last4=Valera-Venegas |first4=G. |last5=Jiménez-Hidalgo |first5=E. |date=2023-08-28 |title=New records of Bison (Mammalia: Bovidae) from Southern Mexico and some comments on their distribution and biochronology |url=https://link.springer.com/10.1007/s12542-023-00665-7 |journal=PalZ |volume=98 |pages=145–159 |language=en |doi=10.1007/s12542-023-00665-7 |issn=0031-0220|url-access=subscription }}</ref> It is noted for its large body size and distinctive long horns.<ref name=":0">{{cite journal |last1=Froese |first1=Duane |last2=Stiller |first2=Mathias |last3=Heintzman |first3=Peter D. |last4=Reyes |first4=Alberto V. |last5=Zazula |first5=Grant D. |last6=Soares |first6=André E. R. |last7=Meyer |first7=Matthias |last8=Hall |first8=Elizabeth |last9=Jensen |first9=Britta J. L. |last10=Arnold |first10=Lee J. |last11=MacPhee |first11=Ross D. E. |last12=Shapiro |first12=Beth |title=Fossil and genomic evidence constrains the timing of bison arrival in North America |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences |date=28 March 2017 |volume=114 |issue=13 |pages=3457–3462 |doi=10.1073/pnas.1620754114 |pmid=28289222 |pmc=5380047 |bibcode=2017PNAS..114.3457F |doi-access=free }}</ref>
==Description== 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% larger than that of modern ''B. bison'', making it undoubtedly one of the largest-ever ruminants.<ref name=Hoganson>{{cite journal|last=Hoganson|first=JW|title=Occurrence of the Giant Ice Age Bison, Bison latifrons, in North Dakota|journal=NDGS Newsletter|volume=29|issue=2|pages=1–3|year=2002|issn=0889-3594|url=https://www.dmr.nd.gov/ndfossil/education/pdf/bison.pdf|access-date=2008-08-18|archive-date=2017-01-25|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170125174944/https://www.dmr.nd.gov/ndfossil/education/pdf/bison.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name=about>{{cite web|url=http://dinosaurs.about.com/od/mesozoicmammals/p/Bison-Latifrons.htm|title=Bison Latifrons - Characteristics, Behavior and Habitat of Bison Latifrons, the Giant Bison|publisher=Dinosaurs.about.com|date=2010-12-18|access-date=2012-05-13|archive-date=2013-11-10|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131110150115/http://dinosaurs.about.com/od/mesozoicmammals/p/Bison-Latifrons.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref>
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 {{convert|4.75|m|ft|abbr=on}} in length and stood about {{convert|2.3|m|ft|abbr=on}} or up to {{convert|2.5|m|ft|abbr=on}}<ref>Fabian Cerón Hardy, 2015, ''Stable Isotope Analysis of Bison latifrons and Paleoecological Inferences'', "1 - Introduction", UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones. 2478.</ref> tall at the withers.<ref>[http://ielc.libguides.com/sdzg/factsheets/extinctlonghorned-ancientbison Extinct Long-horned Bison & Ancient Bison (Bison latifrons and B. antiquus) Fact Sheet: Summary]</ref> With an estimated weight of {{convert|1250|kg|lb|abbr=on}},<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Fariña |first1=Richard A. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kUAKgNfiAvoC |title=Megafauna: Giant Beasts of Pleistocene South America |last2=Vizcaíno |first2=Sergio F. |last3=Iuliis |first3=Gerry De |date=2013-05-22 |publisher=Indiana University Press |isbn=978-0253007193 |page=113}}</ref>''<ref>{{Cite book |last1=East |first1=Shirley G. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-QxQAAAAQBAJ |title=The Dream Hunters Epoch: The Paleo Indians Series |date=2011-12-29 |publisher=Xlibris Corporation |isbn=9781465396945}}</ref>'' or possibly over {{Convert|2000|kg|lb|abbr=on}} in very large males.<ref name=":0" /> The horns of ''B. latifrons'' measured as great as {{convert|213|cm|in|abbr=on}} from tip to tip, compared with {{convert|66|cm|in|abbr=on}} to {{convert|90|cm|in|abbr=on}} in modern ''Bison bison''.<ref name="Kurten1980">{{cite book|last1=Kurten|first1=B|last2=Anderson|first2=E|title=Pleistocene mammals of North America|edition=1st|chapter=Order Artiodactyla|pages=295–339|publisher=Columbia University Press|location=New York|year=1980|isbn=0-231-03733-3|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=f8pviaxPIKEC&q=%22long+horn-cores%2C+which+have+a+maximum+span+of+213+cm%22&pg=PA337}}</ref><ref>William Henry Burt, 1976, A Field Guide to the Mammals: North America North of Mexico, p.224, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt</ref>
==Evolution== [[File:Bison latifrons skull.jpg|thumb|Skull at the Royal Tyrell Museum in Drumheller, Alberta, Canada]] The ultimate ancestor of all American bison species, the steppe bison (''Bison priscus''), first entered northwest North America (eastern Beringia, comprising Alaska and Yukon) around 195,000–135,000 years ago during the Penultimate Glacial Period (Illinoian), and then entered central North America at the beginning of the Last Interglacial (Sangamonian) around 130,000 years ago, following the melting of the Laurentide Ice Sheet, with a ''B. priscus'' population subsequently evolving into ''B. latifrons''. The earliest fossil ''B. 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 around 120,000 years ago.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":2" /> A population of ''B. latifrons'' has been suggested to have given rise to ''Bison antiquus'', the ancestor of modern American bison before 60,000 years ago, with the two species co-existing alongside each other.<ref name=":2">{{Cite journal |last1=Zver |first1=Lars |last2=Toškan |first2=Borut |last3=Bužan |first3=Elena |date=September 2021 |title=Phylogeny of Late Pleistocene and Holocene Bison species in Europe and North America |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S1040618221002421 |journal=Quaternary International |language=en |volume=595 |pages=30–38 |doi=10.1016/j.quaint.2021.04.022|bibcode=2021QuInt.595...30Z |url-access=subscription }}</ref>
==Habitat and behavior== ''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.<ref name=":1" /> Though it was primarily a grazer, ''B. latifrons'' exhibited a high degree of dietary flexibility and adaptability across its range.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Hardy |first1=Fabian Cerón |last2=Rowland |first2=Stephen M. |date=15 June 2024 |title=Stable isotopic analysis of fossil Bison tooth enamel indicates flexible dietary ecology across Pleistocene North America |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0277379124002427 |journal=Quaternary Science Reviews |language=en |volume=334 |article-number=108741 |doi=10.1016/j.quascirev.2024.108741 |bibcode=2024QSRv..33408741H |access-date=25 September 2024 |via=Elsevier Science Direct|url-access=subscription }}</ref> Isotopic analysis from specimens found in Florida suggests a largely grazing based diet,<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Yann |first1=Lindsey T. |last2=DeSantis |first2=Larisa R.G. |date=November 2014|title=Effects of Pleistocene climates on local environments and dietary behavior of mammals in Florida |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0031018214004751 |journal=Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology |language=en |volume=414 |pages=370–381 |doi=10.1016/j.palaeo.2014.09.020|bibcode=2014PPP...414..370Y |url-access=subscription }}</ref> 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.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Noble |first1=Elizabeth J. |last2=McManus |first2=Julia G. |last3=Mead |first3=Alfred J. |last4=Mead |first4=Heidi |last5=Seminack |first5=Christopher |last6=Balco |first6=William |last7=Bennett |first7=Todd |last8=Crain |first8=Nicole M. |last9=Duckworth |first9=Cory |last10=Malasek |first10=Taylor |last11=Pearson |first11=Jason Z. |last12=Rhinehart |first12=Parker |last13=Ussery |first13=Madison E. |last14=Sun |first14=Yu |last15=Patterson |first15=Jessica R. |date=May 2020 |title=Enamel isotopes reveal late Pleistocene ecosystem dynamics in southeastern North America |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0277379120302468 |journal=Quaternary Science Reviews |language=en |volume=236 |article-number=106284 |doi=10.1016/j.quascirev.2020.106284|bibcode=2020QSRv..23606284N |url-access=subscription }}</ref> == Extinction == While many studies have suggested that ''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 BP.<ref>Baskin, J., R. Walls, and R. Thomas. 2022. [https://www.researchgate.net/publication/360748779_Bison_antiquus_and_B_latifrons_from_the_latest_Rancholabrean_latest_Pleistocene_Nueces_River_Valley_South_Texas ''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.</ref> Pressure from human hunting may have played a role in the extinction of ''B. latifrons''.<ref name=Geist1996>Valerius Geist, 1996, Buffalo Nation, "The Advent of a Giant Bison", pp.22-30, Voyageur Press</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== {{Commons category|Bison latifrons}} *[https://web.archive.org/web/20061212082817/http://www.paleocraft.com/paleobison.html At Paleocraft.com] *[https://web.archive.org/web/20070927182838/http://www.royalsaskmuseum.ca/research/faqs/ex_9.shtml Cast at Royal Saskatchewan Museum]
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Category:Bison Category:Prehistoric bovids Category:Pleistocene Artiodactyla Category:Pleistocene mammals of North America Category:Prehistoric mammals of North America Category:Fossil taxa described in 1825 Category:Mammals described in 1825