Editing European bison (section)

==Description==
[[File:European Bison.JPG|thumb|left|Side view of a European bison bull]]
[[File:Bison bonasus 02 MWNH 1527.jpg|thumb|Skull of a European bison]]
[[File:What colour is a European Bison's tongue? (955617578).jpg|thumb|Bison bull showing tongue colouration]]
The European bison is the heaviest surviving wild [[Terrestrial animal|land animal]] in Europe. Similar to their American cousins, European bison were potentially larger historically than remnant descendants;<ref name=WWFRussia /> modern animals are about {{convert|2.8|to|3.3|m|ft|abbr=on}} in length, not counting a tail of {{convert|30|to|92|cm|in|abbr=on}}, {{convert|1.8|to|2.1|m|ft|abbr=on}} in height, and {{convert|615|to|920|kg|lb|abbr=on}} in weight for males, and about {{convert|2.4|to|2.9|m|ft|abbr=on}} in body length without tails, {{convert|1.69|to|1.97|m|ft|abbr=on}} in height, and {{convert|424|to|633|kg|lb|abbr=on}} in weight for females.<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> At birth, calves are quite small, weighing between {{convert|15|and|35|kg|lb|abbr=on}}. In the free-ranging population of the Białowieża Forest of Belarus and Poland, body masses among adults (aged 6 and over) are {{convert|634|kg|abbr=on}} on average in the cases of males, and {{convert|424|kg|lb|abbr=on}} among females.<ref name="lhnet.org">{{cite web |url=http://www.lhnet.org/wisent-european-bison/ |title=Factsheet: Wisent, European Bison (Cattle (Artiodactyla Bovidae Bovinae) > Bison bonasus) |access-date=24 August 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120821134817/http://www.lhnet.org/wisent-european-bison/ |archive-date=21 August 2012 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.theanimalfiles.com/mammals/hoofed_mammals/bison_european.html|title=European Bison: The Animal Files|access-date=14 May 2015|archive-date=15 March 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150315073215/http://theanimalfiles.com/mammals/hoofed_mammals/bison_european.html|url-status=live}}</ref> An occasional big bull European bison can weigh up to {{convert|1000|kg|lb|abbr=on}} or more<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.torontozoo.com/ExploretheZoo/AnimalDetails.asp?pg=645 |title=torontozoo.com (2011). |access-date=22 September 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111015175523/http://www.torontozoo.com/ExploretheZoo/AnimalDetails.asp?pg=645 |archive-date=15 October 2011 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>Boitani, Luigi, ''Simon & Schuster's Guide to Mammals''. Simon & Schuster/Touchstone Books (1984), {{ISBN|978-0-671-42805-1}}</ref><ref name="Burnie">Burnie D and Wilson DE (Eds.), ''Animal: The Definitive Visual Guide to the World's Wildlife''. DK Adult (2005), {{ISBN|0789477645}}</ref> with old bull records of {{convert|1900|kg|lb|abbr=on}} for lowland wisent and {{convert|1000|kg|lb|abbr=on}} for Caucasian wisent.<ref name=WWFRussia />

On average, it is lighter in body mass, and yet slightly taller at the shoulder, than its American relatives, the [[wood bison]] (''Bison bison athabascae'') and the [[plains bison]] (''Bison bison bison'').<ref name=QuaternaryInternational2016>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> Compared to the American species, the wisent has shorter hair on the neck, head, and forequarters, but longer tail and horns. See [[#Differences from American bison|differences from American bison]].

The European bison makes a variety of vocalisations depending on its mood and behaviour, but when anxious, it emits a growl-like sound, known in [[Polish language|Polish]] as ''chruczenie'' ({{IPAc-pl|x|r|u|tʂ|ɛ|ɲ|ɛ}}). This sound can also be heard from wisent males during the mating season.<ref name = pzł>{{cite web|title = The royal European bison|url = http://hunting.info.pl/2016/02/11/krolewskie-zubry/?lang=en|publisher = Łowiec Polski|date = 2016|access-date = 2 December 2019|archive-date = 31 January 2021|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210131125220/http://hunting.info.pl/2016/02/11/krolewskie-zubry/?lang=en|url-status = live}}</ref>