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. It is noted for its large body size and distinctive long horns.
Evolution
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. 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.
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.
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 in length and stood about or up to Fabian Cerón Hardy, 2015, Stable Isotope Analysis of Bison latifrons and Paleoecological Inferences, "1 - Introduction", UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones. 2478. tall at the withers.Extinct Long-horned Bison & Ancient Bison (Bison latifrons and B. antiquus) Fact Sheet: Summary With an estimated weight of , or possibly over in very large males. The horns of B. latifrons measured as great as from tip to tip, compared with to in modern Bison bison.William Henry Burt, 1976, A Field Guide to the Mammals: North America North of Mexico, p.224, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
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. Though it was primarily a grazer, B. latifrons exhibited a high degree of dietary flexibility and adaptability across its range. Isotopic analysis from specimens found in Florida suggests a largely grazing based diet, 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. 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.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. Pressure from human hunting may have played a role in the extinction of B. latifrons.Valerius Geist, 1996, Buffalo Nation, "The Advent of a Giant Bison", pp.22-30, Voyageur Press
References
External links
At Paleocraft.com Cast at Royal Saskatchewan Museum