Editing American bison (section)

==Description==
[[File:Bison bison Wichita Mountain Oklahoma.jpg|thumb|right|Male plains bison in the [[Wichita Mountains]] of [[Oklahoma]]]]
[[File:Bison skeleton at MAV-USP.jpg|thumb|Skeleton of plains bison]]
[[File:Muybridge Buffalo galloping.gif|thumb|Plains bison galloping, photos by [[Eadweard Muybridge]], first published in 1887 in ''Animal Locomotion'']]
A bison has a shaggy, long, dark-brown winter coat, and a lighter-weight, lighter-brown summer coat. Male bison are significantly larger and heavier than females.<ref name="Van1986" /> Plains bison are often in the smaller range of sizes, and wood bison in the larger range. Head-rump lengths at maximum up to {{convert|3.5|m|ftin|abbr=on}} for males and {{convert|2.85|m|ftin|abbr=on}} for females long and the tail adding {{convert|30|to|95|cm|ftin|abbr=on}}.<ref name="Van1986" /><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Halloran |first=F.A. |year=1960 |title=American Bison Weights and Measurements from the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge |journal=Proceedings of the Oklahoma Academy of Science |pages=212–218 |url=https://ojs.library.okstate.edu/osu/index.php/OAS/article/view/4160/3833 |format=PDF}}</ref><ref name=YukagirBison/> Heights at [[withers]] in the species can reach up to {{convert|186|to|201|cm|ftin|abbr=on}} for ''B. b. bison'' and ''B. b. athabascae'' respectively.<ref name="YukagirBison">{{Cite journal |last1=Boeskorov |first1=Gennady G. |last2=Potapova |first2=Olga R. |last3=Protopopov |first3=Albert V. |last4=Plotnikov |first4=Valery V. |last5=Agenbroad |first5=Larry D. |last6=Kirikov |first6=Konstantin S. |last7=Pavlov |first7=Innokenty S. |last8=Shchelchkova |first8=Marina V. |last9=Belolyubskii |first9=Innocenty N. |last10=Tomshin |first10=Mikhail D. |last11=Kowalczyk |first11=Rafal |last12=Davydov |first12=Sergey P. |last13=Kolesov |first13=Stanislav D. |last14=Tikhonov |first14=Alexey N. |last15=van der Plicht |first15=Johannes |date=2016-06-25 |title=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 |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S1040618215012100 |journal=Quaternary International |language=en |volume=406 |issue=Part B |pages=94–110 |doi=10.1016/j.quaint.2015.11.084|bibcode=2016QuInt.406...94B }}</ref> Typically weights can range from {{convert|318|to|1179|kg|lb|abbr=on}},<ref name=YukagirBison/><ref name=Meagher1986>{{cite journal|last1=Meagher|first1=M.|title=Bison bison|journal=Mammalian Species|date=1986|issue=266|pages=1–8|url=http://www.science.smith.edu/msi/pdf/i0076-3519-266-01-0001.pdf|jstor=3504019|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111229105651/http://www.science.smith.edu/msi/pdf/i0076-3519-266-01-0001.pdf|archive-date=December 29, 2011}}</ref><ref name="McDonald, J. 1981">{{Cite book |last=McDonald |first=J. |title=North American Bison: Their classification and Evolution |publisher=University of California Press |year=1981 |location=Berkeley, Los Angeles, London}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.theanimalfiles.com/mammals/hoofed_mammals/bison_american.html|title=American Bison: The Animal Files|website=www.theanimalfiles.com}}</ref> {{convert|460|to|988|kg|lb|abbr=on}} with medians of {{convert|730|to|792.5|kg|lb|abbr=on}} (''B.b. bison'') and {{convert|943.6|kg|lb|abbr=on}} (''B.b.athabascae'') in males, and {{convert|360|to|640|kg|lb|abbr=on}} with medians of {{convert|450|to|497.6|kg|lb|abbr=on}} in females,<ref name="Van1986" /> although the lowest weights probably representing typical weight around the age of sexual maturity at 2 to 3 years of age.<ref name="Castelló">{{Cite book |last=Castelló |first=J.R. |title=Bovids of the World: Antelopes, Gazelles, Cattle, Goats, Sheep, and Relatives |publisher=Princeton University Press |year=2016}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Berger |first1=J. |last2=Peacock |first2=M. |date=1988-08-30 |title=Variability in Size-Weight Relationships of Bison bison |url=https://academic.oup.com/jmammal/article-lookup/doi/10.2307/1381357 |journal=Journal of Mammalogy |language=en |volume=69 |issue=3 |pages=618–624 |doi=10.2307/1381357 |jstor=1381357 |issn=1545-1542}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Rutberg |first=A. T. |date=1984-08-24 |title=Birth Synchrony in American Bison (Bison bison): Response to Predation or Season? |url=https://academic.oup.com/jmammal/article-lookup/doi/10.2307/1381088 |journal=Journal of Mammalogy |language=en |volume=65 |issue=3 |pages=418–423 |doi=10.2307/1381088 |jstor=1381088 |issn=1545-1542}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Rutberg |first=Allen T. |date=1986 |title=Dominance and Its Fitness Consequences in American Bison Cows |url=https://brill.com/view/journals/beh/96/1-2/article-p62_5.xml |journal=Behaviour |volume=96 |issue=1–2 |pages=62–91 |doi=10.1163/156853986X00225 |issn=0005-7959}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Roden |first1=Catherine |last2=Vervaecke |first2=Hilde |last3=Van Elsacker |first3=Linda |date=July 2005 |title=Dominance, age and weight in American bison males (Bison bison) during non-rut in semi-natural conditions |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S016815910400245X |journal=Applied Animal Behaviour Science |language=en |volume=92 |issue=1–2 |pages=169–177 |doi=10.1016/j.applanim.2004.10.005}}</ref><ref name="Van1986" />

The heaviest wild bull for ''B.b.bison'' ever recorded weighed {{convert|1270|kg|lb|abbr=on}}<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> while there had been bulls estimated to be {{convert|3000|lb|kg|abbr=on|order= flip}}.<ref name="AllAboutBison" /> ''B.b.athabascae'' is significantly larger and heavier on average than ''B.b.bison'' while the number of recorded samples for the former was limited after the rediscovery of a relatively pure herd.<ref name="Van1986">{{Cite book |last=Van Zyll de Jong |first=C. G |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/111563 |title=A systematic study of recent bison, with particular consideration of the wood bison (Bison bison athabascae Rhoads 1898 |publisher=National Museum of Natural Sciences |year=1986 |series=Publications in natural sciences |volume=6 |page=37}}</ref> Elk Island National Park, which has wild populations of both wood and plains bison, has recorded maximum weights for bull bison of 1186&nbsp;kg (plains) and 1099&nbsp;kg (wood), but noted that 3/4 of all bison over 1000&nbsp;kg were wood bison. When raised in captivity and farmed for meat, the bison can grow unnaturally heavy and the largest semidomestic bison weighed {{convert|1724|kg|lb|abbr=on}}.<ref name="Meagher1986" /> The heads and forequarters are massive, and both sexes have short, curved horns that can grow up to {{convert|60|cm|ft|0|abbr=on}} long with {{convert|90|cm|ft|0|abbr=on}} to {{convert|124|cm|ft|0|abbr=on}} width,<ref>William Henry Burt, 1976, A Field Guide to the Mammals: North America North of Mexico, p.224, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt</ref><ref name="AllAboutBison">{{cite web|url=https://allaboutbison.com/legendary-bison-bulls/|title=Legendary Bison Bulls|website=allaboutbison.com}}</ref> which they use in fighting for status within the herd and for defense.

Bison are [[herbivory|herbivores]], grazing on the grasses and [[Cyperaceae|sedges]] of the North American [[prairie]]s. Their daily schedule involves two-hour periods of grazing, resting, and cud chewing, then moving to a new location to graze again. Sexually mature young bulls may try to start mating with cows by the age of two or three years, but if more mature bulls are present, they may not be able to compete until they reach five years of age.

For the first two months of life, calves are lighter in color than mature bison. Though extremely rare, [[white buffalo|white buffalos]] exist.