Tag: Bison

Members of the genus Bison are large, even-toed ungulates within the subfamily Bovinae. Two extant and four extinct species are recognized. The surviving species are the American bison, also known as the American buffalo (although it is only distantly related to the true buffalo), Bison bison (with two subspecies, the plains bison, Bison bison bison, and the wood bison, Bison bison athabascae), found in North America, and the European bison, or wisent (Bison bonasus), found in Europe and the Caucasus. While these species are usually grouped into their own genus, they are sometimes included in the closely related genus Bos, together with cattle, gaur, kouprey and yaks, with which bison have a limited ability to interbreed.
The American bison and the European wisent are good swimmers and are the largest terrestrial animals in North America and Europe. Bison are nomadic grazers and travel in herds, except for the nondominant bulls, which travel alone or in small groups during most of the…