AMERICAN BISON
(Bos bison[6])
The great elevation of the forequarters, the mass of long hair clothing the head, shoulders, and fore part of the body, together with the peculiar form of the head and horns, the latter of which are cylindrical, serve at once to distinguish the bison from the other members of the ox tribe. Some of the points distinguishing the American bison from its European cousin are that the mass of hair on the fore quarters is longer, the form of the skull is different, the horns are shorter, thicker, blunter, and more sharply curved. In the skull of the American animal the sockets of the eyes have a more tubular form.
Height at shoulder about 6 feet; weight from 15 to 20 hundredweight; an adult bull weighed by W. T. Hornaday scaled 1727 pounds.
Distribution.—The greater portion of western North America, ascending to the Great Slave Lake, and descending to New Mexico and Texas; now nearly exterminated. American writers recognize two races (or species), the prairie bison (B. bison typicus) and the larger wood bison (B. bison athabascæ) of the forest highlands of the northwest.
Measurements of Horns
| Length on Outside Curve | Circumference | Tip to Tip | Widest Inside Spread | Locality | Owner |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| —21½ | 15¼ | .. | 35 outside | Northern Montana | W. F. Sheard |
| 20⅞ | 15 | .. | 30½ | Wyoming | Hon. F. Thellusson |
| —20¼ | 16⅛ | 33½ | .. | ? | W. H. Root |
| —19 | 12½ | .. | .. | Western Montana | P. Liebinger |
| 18⅞ | 14¾ | .. | 16⅞ | Western Montana | The late J. S. Jameson |
| —18¼ | 14 | 26¼ | 29 | Sioux Country | Sir Greville Smyth, Bart. |
| —18 | 14 | .. | .. | Montana | F. Sauter |
| 17¾ | 12⅜ | 15⅛ | .. | ? | H.R.H. the Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha |
| —17½ | 12½ | .. | .. | Southwestern Montana | Theodore Roosevelt |
| 17½ | 12 | .. | 25½ | Wyoming | H.R.H. le Duc d’Orléans |
| 17½ | 13½ | 21 | .. | ? | Viscount Powerscourt |
| 17⅛ | 11⅜ | 10⅜ | 17⅛ | ? | British Museum |
| —17 | 14 | 17½ | .. | Yellowstone, Montana | Count E. Hoyos |
| 16⅝ | 14¼ | 24 | .. | Bighorn Mts., Wyoming | Moreton Frewen[7] |
| 16½ | 12½ | 19⅜ | .. | Colorado | Sir Edmund G. Loder, Bart. |
| 16¼ | 13½ | 14¼ | .. | ? | Duke of Portland |
| 16⅛ | 15⅞ | 25¾ | .. | Colorado | Sir Edmund G. Loder, Bart. |
| 15½ | 14⅜ | .. | 19¾ | Wyoming | St. George Littledale |
| —15.8 | 12.14 | 15 | .. | Indian Territory, near Texas | Prince Henry of Liechtenstein |
| 14 | .. | 12¼ | .. | North Park, Colorado | Col. Ralph Vivian |
| 13½ | 13½ | 17½ | .. | ? | G. Wrey |
| 13⅜ | 12 | .. | .. | ? | Hon. Walter Rothschild |