Editing Bison (section)

==Description==
[[File:Bison on plaque Bedeilhac grottoe Ariege.jpg|thumb|left|[[Magdalenian]] bison on plaque, 17,000–9,000 BC, [[Bédeilhac-et-Aynat|Bédeilhac]] grottoe, [[Ariège (department)|Ariège]]]]

The American bison and the European bison (wisent) are the largest surviving terrestrial animals in North America and Europe. They are typical [[artiodactyl]] (cloven hooved) ungulates, and are similar in appearance to other bovines such as cattle and true buffalo. They are broad and muscular with shaggy coats of long hair. Adults grow up to {{convert|2|m|ftin|abbr=off}} in height and {{convert|3.5|m|ftin|abbr=on}} in length for American bison<ref name=YukagirBison>Gennady G. Boeskorov, Olga R. Potapova, Albert V. Protopopov, Valery V. Plotnikov, Larry D. Agenbroad, Konstantin S. Kirikov, Innokenty S. Pavlov, Marina V. Shchelchkova, Innocenty N. Belolyubskii, Mikhail D. Tomshin, Rafal Kowalczyk, Sergey P. Davydov, Stanislav D. Kolesov, Alexey N. Tikhonov, Johannes van der Plicht, 2016, The Yukagir Bison: The exterior morphology of a complete frozen mummy of the extinct steppe bison, ''Bison priscus'' from the early Holocene of northern Yakutia, Russia, pp.7, [[Quaternary International]], Vol.406 (25 June 2016), Part B, pp.94-110</ref><ref name="nwf.org">[https://www.nwf.org/Educational-Resources/Wildlife-Guide/Mammals/American-Bison] "American Bison", The National Wildlife Federation.</ref> and up to {{convert|2.1|m|ftin|abbr=on}} in height<ref name=WWFRussia>Semenov U.A. of [[World Wide Fund for Nature|WWF]]-Russia, 2014, "The Wisents of Karachay-Cherkessia", Proceedings of the [[Sochi National Park]] (8), pp.23-24, {{ISBN|978-5-87317-984-8}}, KMK Scientific Press</ref> and {{convert|2.9|m|ftin|abbr=on}} in length for European bison.<ref name="Bison bonasus, European bison">Hendricks, K. [https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Bison_bonasus/ "''Bison bonasus'', European bison"], Animal Diversity Web, 2013.</ref> American bison can weigh from around {{convert|400|to|1,270|kg|abbr=off}}<ref name="nwf.org"/><ref>{{cite book|author1=Joel Berger|author2=Carol Cunningham|title=Bison: mating and conservation in small populations|date=June 1994|publisher=Columbia University Press|isbn=978-0-231-08456-7|page=162}}</ref> and European bison can weigh from {{convert|800|to|1000|kg|abbr=on}}.<ref name="Bison bonasus, European bison"/> European bison tend to be taller than American bison.

Bison are nomadic [[Grazing|grazers]] and travel in [[herd]]s. The bulls leave the herds of females at two or three years of age, and join a herd of males, which usually are smaller than female herds. Mature bulls rarely travel alone. Towards the end of the summer, for the reproductive season, the sexes necessarily commingle.<ref name="headsmashedin">{{cite book |url=http://www.aupress.ca/books/120137/ebook/99Z_Brink_2008-Imagining_Head_Smashed_In.pdf |title=Imagining Head-Smashed-In: Aboriginal Buffalo Hunting on the Northern Plains |last=Brink |first=Jack W. |publisher=Athabasca University Press |year=2008 |isbn=978-1-897425-09-1 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111216103511/http://www.aupress.ca/books/120137/ebook/99Z_Brink_2008-Imagining_Head_Smashed_In.pdf |archive-date=16 December 2011}}</ref>

American bison are known for living in the [[Great Plains]], but formerly had a much larger range, including much of the eastern United States and parts of Mexico. Both species were hunted close to [[extinction]] during the 19th and 20th centuries, but have since rebounded. The wisent in part owes its survival to the Chernobyl disaster, as the [[Chernobyl Exclusion Zone]] has become a kind of wildlife preserve for wisent and other rare megafauna such as the [[Przewalski's horse]], though [[poaching]] has become a threat in the 21st century.<ref name="poachers">{{cite web|title=Chernobyl's Przewalski's horses are poached for meat|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/14277058|website=BBC|access-date=13 March 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161231064534/http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/14277058|archive-date=31 December 2016}}</ref> The American Plains bison is no longer listed as [[endangered]], but this does not mean the species is secure. Genetically pure ''B.&nbsp;b.&nbsp;bison'' currently number only about 20,000, separated into fragmented herds—all of which require active conservation measures.<ref name="IUCN bison">{{cite iucn|author=Aune, K.|author2= Jørgensen, D. |author3= Gates, C. |name-list-style=amp |year= 2017|title= ''Bison bison'' |errata= 2018 |page= e.T2815A123789863 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2017-3.RLTS.T2815A45156541.en}}</ref> The wood bison is on the endangered species list in Canada<ref>{{cite web
|url=http://ecos.fws.gov/tess_public/SpeciesReport.do?groups=A&listingType=L&mapstatus=1
|title=U.S. ''Fish and Wildlife Service Species Report''
|access-date=2009-06-03
|url-status=dead
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111019170013/http://ecos.fws.gov/tess_public/SpeciesReport.do?groups=A&listingType=L&mapstatus=1
|archive-date=19 October 2011
}}</ref> and is listed as threatened in the United States, though numerous attempts have been made by [[beefalo]] ranchers to have it entirely removed from the [[Endangered Species Act|Endangered Species List]].<ref name="Wood Bison ECOS">{{cite web|title=Wood Bison|url=https://ecos.fws.gov/ecp0/profile/speciesProfile?spcode=A00R|website=U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service ECOS Environmental Conservation Online System|access-date=13 March 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170314063506/https://ecos.fws.gov/ecp0/profile/speciesProfile?spcode=A00R|archive-date=14 March 2017}}</ref>

[[File:Bison skeleton taxidermy mount.jpg|thumb|left|A museum display shows the full skeleton of an adult male American bison.]]

Although superficially similar, physical and behavioural differences exist between the American and European bison. The American species has 15 ribs, while the European bison has 14. The American bison has four lumbar vertebrae, while the European has five.<ref>''The Penny Cyclopædia of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge'' by Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge (Great Britain), published by C. Knight, 1835</ref> (The difference in this case is that what would be the first lumbar vertebra has ribs attached to it in American bison and is thus counted as the 15th thoracic vertebra, compared to 14 thoracic vertebrae in wisent.) Adult American bison are less slim in build and have shorter legs.<ref>{{cite book |title=Trophy Bowhunting: Plan the Hunt of a Lifetime and Bag One for the Record Books |last=Sapp |first=Rick |edition=illustrated |publisher=Stackpole |year=2006 |isbn=978-0-8117-3315-1 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/trophybowhunting0000sapp}}</ref> American bison tend to graze more, and [[Browsing (herbivory)|browse]] less than their European relatives. Their anatomies reflect this behavioural difference; the American bison's head hangs lower than the European's. The body of the American bison is typically hairier, though its tail has less hair than that of the European bison. The horns of the European bison point through the plane of their faces, making them more adept at fighting through the interlocking of horns in the same manner as domestic cattle, unlike the American bison, which favours butting.<ref>{{cite book |title=American Bison: A Natural History |last=Lott |first=Dale F. |publisher=University of California Press |year=2003 |isbn=978-0-520-24062-9 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/americanbisonnat0000lott }}</ref> American bison are more easily tamed than their European cousins, and breed with domestic cattle more readily.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Notice of the Various Species of Bovine Animals |editor=Newman, Edward |journal=The Zoologist |year=1859 |volume=17 |page=6362 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KbwtAQAAIAAJ&q=Zoologist:+A+Monthly+Journal+of+Natural+History+bison&pg=PA6362 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140706230812/http://books.google.com/books?id=KbwtAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA6362&lpg=PA6362&dq=Zoologist:+A+Monthly+Journal+of+Natural+History+bison&source=bl&ots=0AxGurhp2N&sig=mqDPuwezuRDEFzh_7bA1hL2AyYw&hl=en&sa=X&ei=eYY_UsWBKYS8iwKNs4CADg&ved=0CE0Q6AEwCQ#v=onepage&q=Zoologist%3A%20A%20Monthly%20Journal%20of%20Natural%20History%20bison&f=false |archive-date=6 July 2014}}</ref>