Bison antiquus explained

Bison antiquus, the antique bison or ancient bison, is an extinct species of bison that lived in Late Pleistocene North America until around 10,000 years ago. Bison antiquus was one of the most common large herbivores in Late Pleistocene North America. It is a direct ancestor of the living American bison.[1] [2]

History of discovery

The first described remains of Bison antiquus were collected at Big Bone Lick, Kentucky in Pleistocene deposits in the 1850s and only consisted of a fragmentary posterior skull and a nearly complete horn core.[3] The fossil (ANSP 12990) was briefly described by Joseph Leidy in 1852.[4] Although the original fossils were fragmentary, a complete skull of an old male was discovered in southern California and were described as a new species, B. californicus, by Samuel Rhoads in 1897,[5] but the species is considered synonymous with B. antiquus.[6] Since the 19th century, several well preserved specimens of B. antiquus have been discovered in many parts of the United States,[7] Canada,[8] and southern Mexico.[9]

Description

B. antiquus was taller, had larger bones and horns, and was 15 to 25% larger overall than modern bison. It reached up to tall, long, and a weight of,[10] with an average of around .[11] [12] The horns were on average 87cm (34inches) across tip to tip, but could be as much as 106.7cm (42inches) across.[13]

Evolution

Around 195,000-130,000 years ago, the steppe bison (Bison priscus) crossed the Bering Land Bridge into North America.[14] In North America, B. priscus evolved into the large long-horned Bison latifrons, which then gave rise to B. antiquus sometime prior to 60,000 years ago.[15] B. antiquus became increasingly abundant in parts of midcontinent North America from 18,000 until about 10,000 years ago.[16]

Relationship with humans

One of the best educational sites to view in situ semifossilized skeletons of over 500 individuals of B. antiquus is the Hudson-Meng archeological site operated by the U.S. Forest Service, 18miles northwest of Crawford, Nebraska. A number of paleo-Indian spear and projectile points have been recovered in conjunction with the animal skeletons at the site, which is dated around 9,700 to 10,000 years ago. The reason for the "die-off" of so many animals in one compact location is still in conjecture; some professionals argue it was the result of a very successful paleo-Indian hunt, while others feel the herd died as a result of some dramatic natural event, to be later scavenged by humans. Individuals of B. antiquus of both sexes and a typical range of ages have been found at the site.[17] [18] B. antiquus may have been hunted by Clovis people in North and South Carolina, based on blood residue from Clovis points.[19]

According to internationally renowned archaeologist George Carr Frison, B. occidentalis and B. antiquus both survived the Late Pleistocene period, between about 12,000 and 11,000 years ago, dominated by glaciation (the Wisconsin glaciation in North America), when many other megafauna became extinct. After the extinction of most of the North American megafauna, Native Americans of the Plains and Rocky Mountains depended largely on bison as their major food source.. Frison noted, "[the] oldest, well-documented bison kills by pedestrian human hunters in North America date to about 11,000 years ago." B. antiquus fossils were found in Washington State in recent years, with apparent fracture patterns on bones consistent with stone tools as opposed to carnivorous activity.[20]

Extinction

The living American bison (Bison bison) is suggested to have evolved from Bison antiquus in central North America at the very end of the Pleistocene. The last populations of B. antiquus became extinct during the early Holocene, around 10,000 years ago.

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Animals of the La Brea Tar Pits Timeline. La Brea Tar Pits & Museum. 14 March 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20180111150652/http://www.tarpits.org/la-brea-tar-pits/timeline. 11 January 2018. dead.
  2. C. G Van Zyll de Jong, 1986, A systematic study of recent bison, with particular consideration of the wood bison (Bison bison athabascae Rhoads 1898), p.53, National Museum of Natural Sciences
  3. Gillette, D. D., & Colbert, E. H. (1976). Catalogue of Type Specimens of Fossil Vertebrates Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia Part II: Terrestrial Mammals. Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, 25-38.
  4. Leidy, Joseph. 1852. July 6, 1852. Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia. 6. 1. 117. 1 June 2023. Biodiversity Heritage Library.
  5. Rhoads, S. N. (1897). Notes on living and extinct species of North American Bovidae. Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, 483-502.
  6. Lucas, F.A.. 1899. The fossil bison of North America. 1 June 2023. Smithsonian Institution. Proceedings of the United States National Museum. 21. 1172. 755–771. 10.5479/si.00963801.21-1172.755 .
  7. Wilson. Michael C.. Kenady. Stephen M.. Schalk. Randall F.. 2009. Late Pleistocene Bison antiquus from Orcas Island, Washington, and the biogeographic importance of an early postglacial land mammal dispersal corridor from the mainland to Vancouver Island. Quaternary Research. en. 71. 1. 49–61. 10.1016/j.yqres.2008.09.001. 2009QuRes..71...49W . 129543840 . 0033-5894.
  8. Wilson, M.C. . Hills, L.V.. Shapiro, B.. Late Pleistocene northward-dispersing Bison antiquus from the Bighill Creek Formation, Gallelli Gravel Pit, Alberta, Canada, and the fate of Bison occidentalis. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences. 45. 7. 827–859. 2008. 10.1139/E08-027. 2008CaJES..45..827W.
  9. Jiménez-Hidalgo, E.. Cabrera-Pérez, L.. MacFadden, B.J.. Guerrero-Arenas, R.. First record of Bison antiquus from the Late Pleistocene of southern Mexico. Journal of South American Earth Sciences. March 2013. 42. 83–90. 10.1016/j.jsames.2012.07.011. 2013JSAES..42...83J . 140592800.
  10. Web site: Warkworth Western Weekend Rodeo | Competitors . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20110821104228/http://warkworthwesternweekend.com/competitors.php . 2011-08-21 . 2012-05-30.
  11. Martin . J.M. . Mead . J.I. . Barboza . P.S. . April 2018 . Bison body size and climate change . Ecology and Evolution . 8 . 9 . 4564–4574 . 10.1002/ece3.4019 . 5938452 . free. 29760897 . 2018EcoEv...8.4564M .
  12. Wimberley . A.N. . September 2023 . Predicting body mass in Ruminantia using postcranial measurements . Journal of Morphology . 284 . 10 . e21636 . 10.1002/jmor.21636 . free. 37708510 .
  13. Wilson . Michael C. . Hills . Leonard V. . Shapiro . Beth . July 2008 . Gilbert . Robert . Late Pleistocene northward-dispersing Bison antiquus from the Bighill Creek Formation, Gallelli Gravel Pit, Alberta, Canada, and the fate of Bison occidentalis . Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences . en . 45 . 7 . 827–859 . 10.1139/E08-027 . 2008CaJES..45..827W . 0008-4077.
  14. Froese . Duane . Stiller . Mathias . Heintzman . Peter D. . Reyes . Alberto V. . Zazula . Grant D. . Soares . André E. R. . Meyer . Matthias . Hall . Elizabeth . Jensen . Britta J. L. . Arnold . Lee J. . MacPhee . Ross D. E. . Shapiro . Beth . 28 March 2017 . Fossil and genomic evidence constrains the timing of bison arrival in North America . Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences . 114 . 13 . 3457–3462 . 2017PNAS..114.3457F . 10.1073/pnas.1620754114 . 5380047 . 28289222 . free.
  15. Zver . Lars . Toškan . Borut . Bužan . Elena . September 2021 . Phylogeny of Late Pleistocene and Holocene Bison species in Europe and North America . Quaternary International . en . 595 . 30–38 . 10.1016/j.quaint.2021.04.022. 2021QuInt.595...30Z .
  16. Book: Scott, E. . Geology and Vertebrate Paleontology of Western and Southern North America . Cox, S.M. . Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County . 2008 . 978-1-891276-27-9 . Wang, X. . Los Angeles . 359–382 . Late Pleistocene distribution of Bison (Mammalia; Artiodactyla) in the Mojave Desert of Southern California and Nevada . No. 41 Science Series . Barnes, L.G..
  17. Davis, L.B. and Wilson, M. (1978) "Bison procurement and utilization: A symposium," Plains Anthropologist. Volume 23, Issue 82, Part 2. p 128.
  18. Agenbroad, L.D. (1978) The Hudson-Meng site: an Alberta bison kill in the Nebraska high plains. University Press of America.
  19. Moore . Christopher R. . Kimball . Larry R. . Goodyear . Albert C. . Brooks . Mark J. . Daniel . I. Randolph . West . Allen . Taylor . Sean G. . Weber . Kiersten J. . Fagan . John L. . Walker . Cam M. . 10 June 2023 . Paleoamerican exploitation of extinct megafauna revealed through immunological blood residue and microwear analysis, North and South Carolina, USA . . en . 13 . 1 . 9464 . 10.1038/s41598-023-36617-z . 2045-2322 . 10257692 . 37301945 . 2023NatSR..13.9464M .
  20. Web site: Mackie . Quentin . 24 April 2010 . The Bison at Ayer Pond on Orcas Island is archaeological . 1 June 2023 . Northwest Coast Archaeology.

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