Editing American bison (section)

==Evolution==
Bison are members of the tribe [[Bovini]]. Genetic evidence from [[nuclear DNA]] indicates that the closest living relatives of bison are [[Wild yak|yaks]], with bison being nested within the genus ''[[Bos]],'' rendering ''Bos'' without including bison [[paraphyletic]]. While nuclear DNA indicates that the two living bison species are each other's closest living relatives, the [[mitochondrial DNA]] of European bison is more closely related to that of domestic cattle and [[aurochs]], which is suggested to be the result of either [[incomplete lineage sorting]] or ancient [[introgression]].<ref name="WangEtal2018">{{Cite journal |last1=Wang |first1=Kun |last2=Lenstra |first2=Johannes A. |last3=Liu |first3=Liang |last4=Hu |first4=Quanjun |last5=Ma |first5=Tao |last6=Qiu |first6=Qiang |last7=Liu |first7=Jianquan |date=2018-10-19 |title=Incomplete lineage sorting rather than hybridization explains the inconsistent phylogeny of the wisent |journal=Communications Biology |language=en |volume=1 |issue=1 |page=169 |doi=10.1038/s42003-018-0176-6 |pmid=30374461 |pmc=6195592 |issn=2399-3642}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last1=Grange|first1=Thierry|last2=Brugal|first2=Jean-Philip|last3=Flori|first3=Laurence|last4=Gautier|first4=Mathieu|last5=Uzunidis|first5=Antigone|last6=Geigl|first6=Eva-Maria|date=September 2018|title=The Evolution and Population Diversity of Bison in Pleistocene and Holocene Eurasia: Sex Matters|journal=Diversity|language=en|volume=10|issue=3|pages=65|doi=10.3390/d10030065|doi-access=free|bibcode=2018Diver..10...65G }}</ref> 

Bison first appeared in Asia during the [[Early Pleistocene]], around 2.6 million years ago.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Sorbelli|first1=Leonardo|last2=Alba|first2=David M.|last3=Cherin|first3=Marco|last4=Moullé|first4=Pierre-Élie|last5=Brugal|first5=Jean-Philip|last6=Madurell-Malapeira|first6=Joan|date=June 1, 2021|title=A review on Bison schoetensacki and its closest relatives through the early-Middle Pleistocene transition: Insights from the Vallparadís Section (NE Iberian Peninsula) and other European localities|url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277379121001402|journal=Quaternary Science Reviews|language=en|volume=261|pages=106933|doi=10.1016/j.quascirev.2021.106933|bibcode=2021QSRv..26106933S|s2cid=235527116|issn=0277-3791}}</ref> Bison only arrived in North America 195,000 to 135,000 years ago, during the late [[Middle Pleistocene]], descending from the widespread Siberian [[steppe bison]] (''Bison priscus''), which had migrated through [[Beringia]]. Following their first appearance in North America, the bison rapidly [[Speciation|differentiated into new species]], such as the largest of all bison, the long-horned ''[[Bison latifrons]]'', along with ''[[Bison antiquus]]''. The first appearance of bison in North America is considered to define the regional [[Rancholabrean]] faunal stage, due to its major impact on the [[ecology]] of the continent.<ref>{{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.|date=March 28, 2017|title=Fossil and genomic evidence constrains the timing of bison arrival in North America|journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences|language=en|volume=114|issue=13|pages=3457–3462|doi=10.1073/pnas.1620754114|issn=0027-8424|pmid=28289222|pmc=5380047|bibcode=2017PNAS..114.3457F|doi-access=free}}</ref> Modern American bison are thought to have evolved from ''B. antiquus'' at the end of the [[Late Pleistocene]] - beginning of the [[Holocene]], with likely intermediates between the species referred to as ''[[Bison occidentalis|Bison "occidentalis"]]''.<ref name="Wilsonetal.2008">{{cite journal|last1=Wilson|first1=M.C.|last2=Hills|first2=L.V.|last3=Shapiro|first3=B.|year=2008|title=Late Pleistocene northward-dispersing ''Bison antiquus'' from the Bighill Creek Formation, Gallelli Gravel Pit, Alberta, Canada, and the fate of ''Bison occidentalis''|journal=Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences|volume=45|issue=7|pages=827–59|bibcode=2008CaJES..45..827W|doi=10.1139/E08-027}}</ref> The North American bison population experienced demographic stability during the [[Middle Holocene]] but began a slow decline in the Late Holocene beginning about 2,700 BP.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Ovchinnikov |first1=Igor V. |last2=McCann |first2=Blake |date=14 July 2023 |title=Mitogenomes revealed the history of bison colonization of Northern Plains after the Last Glacial Maximum |journal=[[Scientific Reports]] |language=en |volume=13 |issue=1 |pages=11417 |doi=10.1038/s41598-023-37599-8 |pmid=37452114 |issn=2045-2322 |pmc=10349043 |bibcode=2023NatSR..1311417O }}</ref>

===Differences from European bison===
[[File:European Bison.JPG|thumb|left|An adult European bison]]
Although they are superficially similar, the American and [[European bison]] exhibit a number of physical and behavioral differences. Adult American bison are slightly heavier on average because of their less rangy build and have shorter legs, which render them slightly shorter at the shoulder.<ref>''Trophy Bowhunting: Plan the Hunt of a Lifetime and Bag One for the Record Books'', by Rick Sapp, Edition: illustrated, published by Stackpole Books, 2006, {{ISBN|0-8117-3315-7}}, {{ISBN|978-0-8117-3315-1}}</ref> American bison tend to [[Grazing (behaviour)|graze]] more and [[Browsing (herbivory)|browse]] less than their European relatives because their necks are set differently. Compared to the nose of the American bison, that of the European species is set farther forward than the forehead when the neck is in a neutral position. The body of the American bison is hairier, though its tail has less hair than that of the European bison. The horns of the European bison point forward through the plane of its face, making it more adept at fighting through the interlocking of horns in the same manner as domestic cattle, unlike the American bison, which favors charging.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Lott |first=Dale F. |title=American bison: a natural history |date=2002 |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=978-0-520-24062-9 |series=Organisms and environments |location=Berkeley}}</ref> American bison are more easily tamed than the European and breed more readily with domestic cattle.<ref>Newman, Edward and James Edmund Harting (1859). ''Zoologist: A Monthly Journal of Natural History'' Published by J. Van Voorst.</ref>

===Crossbreeding with cattle===
During the population bottleneck, after the great slaughter of American bison during the 19th century, the number of bison remaining alive in North America declined to as low as 541. During that period, a handful of ranchers gathered remnants of the existing herds to save the species from extinction. These ranchers bred some of the bison with cattle in an effort to produce "cattalo" or "[[beefalo]]".<ref name=Halbert2007>{{cite journal |author1=Halbert, N |author2=Gogan, P |author3=Hiebert, R |author4=Derr, J |year=2007 |title=Where the buffalo roam: The role of history and genetics in the conservation of bison on U.S. federal lands |url=http://www.nature.nps.gov/parkscience/index.cfm?ArticleID=149 |journal=Park Science |volume=24 |issue=2 |pages=22–29 |bibcode=2007PaSci..24...22H |access-date=November 4, 2012 |archive-date=March 3, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130303115257/http://nature.nps.gov/parkscience/index.cfm?ArticleID=149 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Accidental crossings were also known to occur. Generally, male domestic bulls were crossed with bison cows, producing offspring of which only the females were fertile. The crossbred animals did not demonstrate any form of [[hybrid vigor]], so the practice was abandoned. The proportion of cattle DNA that has been measured in introgressed individuals and bison herds today is typically quite low, ranging from 0.56 to 1.8%.<ref name=Halbert2007/><ref name=Polziehn>{{cite journal|doi=10.1046/j.1523-1739.1995.09061638.x|author1=Polziehn, R |author2=Strobeck, C |author3=Sheraton, J |author4=Beech, R |s2cid=85575841 |year=1995|title=Bovine mtDNA Discovered in North American Bison Populations|journal= Conservation Biology|volume=9|issue=6|pages=1638–1643 (1642)|bibcode=1995ConBi...9.1638P }}</ref> Many claimed "beefalo", even those regarded as pedigree, have no detectable bison ancestry.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last1=Shapiro |first1=Beth |last2=Oppenheimer |first2=Jonas |display-authors=1 |date=2024 |title=Most Beefalo cattle have no detectable bison genetic ancestry |url=https://elifesciences.org/reviewed-preprints/102750v1 |journal=eLife |volume=13 |doi=10.7554/elife.102750.1.sa3 |doi-access=free}}</ref> In the [[United States]], many ranchers are now using DNA testing to cull the residual cattle genetics from their bison herds. The U.S. National Bison Association has adopted a code of ethics which prohibits its members from deliberately crossbreeding bison with any other species.<ref>{{cite web |title=FAQ |url=https://bisoncentral.com/faq/ |access-date=March 18, 2022 |website=National Bison Association |language=en-US}}</ref>