American bison

Also known as bison, Bison bison, American buffalo, plains bison, plains buffalo, prairie bison, prairie buffalo

North American species of even-toed ungulates

AI overview

The American bison is a large hoofed mammal native to North America that once roamed the continent in vast numbers. It matters because it was a keystone species that shaped ecosystems across the Great Plains and played a crucial role in Native American cultures and survival.

AI-generated from the Wikipedia summary — may contain errors.

Species

Near Threatened

American Bison

species

Observations30,591

本条目部分链接不符合格式手冊規範。跨語言链接及章節標題等處的链接可能需要清理。（2015年12月11日）請協助改善此條目。參見WP:LINKSTYLE、WP:MOSIW以了解細節。突出显示跨语言链接可以便于检查。美洲野牛（學名：Bison bison），又名美洲水牛或犎牛，是偶蹄目牛科哺乳動物，也是北美洲體型最大的哺乳動物和世界上最大野牛之一。儘管體型龐大，仍可維持60公里的奔跑速度。主要群體由雌牛和幼牛組成；雄性會另外組成單身漢群，只有交配時才會聚集在一起。平時以嫩莖晘草為食，無領域性。美洲森林野牛一般被認為是其亞種，但分類地位仍有爭議。最近根據最新DNA研究顯示，牠和歐洲野牛親源關係比所知還要接近。體型龐大的美洲森林野牛是北美洲最大的亞種，牠的體型大過亞洲野牛和野生水牛，後兩者主要出現在印度。野牛大量集體居住在美國和加拿大的大平原，由加拿大遠北的大奴湖至南面的墨西哥，再由奧勒崗州東部至大西洋一帶。其兩個亞種分別是美洲草原野牛（Bison bison bison），體型較小和有較圓滑的背部隆肉，和美洲森林野牛，體型較大和較高和方形的背部隆肉。雖然美洲野牛也稱美洲水牛，但實際牠和水牛或非洲水牛相似地方不大。目录 1 生理 2 交配與繁殖 3 捕獵 3.1 自然捕獵 3.2 十九世紀的野牛捕獵 3.3 保護 3.4 現時野牛捕獵的情況 4 水牛開拓的道路 5 現今的野牛 5.1 危險 6 野牛的美洲原住民名稱 7 參考 8 參見 9 外部連結生理黄石国家公园温泉旁边的北美野牛美洲野牛重達2200磅，高達6英呎，是北美洲體型最大的有蹄類，儘管身軀龐大，美洲野牛仍可用每小時60公里的速度奔跑。由於美洲野牛的角只有3、4吋長，因此牠們在衝撞會利用額頭部位強而有力的肌肉撞擊對方。有時，部分野牛出生時全身是白色的。但某些並非白化病，因為身體，如皮膚，毛髮和眼睛仍然會整正常生產顏料色素，並在漸漸長大後變回啡色。但有些則是白化症，即使長大了也是白色。此外，白野牛更被印第安人美洲原住民認為是神聖的動物。交配與繁殖五月末在南達科他州卡斯特國家公園的年幼野牛。美洲野牛的交配習性是一夫多妻制的，也就是說一頭雄性野牛會和幾頭雌性野牛交配。開始時，單身的雄性野牛會一直"看管"著雌性野牛，直至交配到為止，這期間雄性會跟著雌性，並趕走附近的競爭雄性。年幼的野牛（約三個月大的野牛）的顏色比會成年野牛的淺色。交配季節在夏季的中後部分，北方可以至每年的九月。懷孕期為285天（約九個半月），所以小牛通常在春季出生[1]。在大蒂顿国家公园争斗的北美野牛捕獵自然捕獵在美國內布拉斯加州的美洲野牛。美洲野牛是北美洲的新移民，牠們源自歐亞大陸，後來遷移至白令海峽。大概於10,000年前，牠取代了當時數量龐大的移居者——西伯利亞野牛。長角野牛的絕種被認為是因為生態系統的改變，

via IUCN

Wikidata facts

Mass: 2800
Image: American bison k5680-1.jpg

Show 10 more facts

Commons category: Bison bison
taxon name: Bison bison
Commons gallery: Bison bison
taxon common name: Bison d'Amérique
gestation period: 285
litter size: 1
longest observed lifespan: 33.5
start time: 10000-00-0
sequenced genome URL: www.dnazoo.org/assemblies/Bison_bison
short name: B. bison

Sources (10)

via Wikidata · CC0

~40 min read

Article

The American bison (Bison bison; pl.: bison), commonly known as the American buffalo, or simply buffalo (not to be confused with true buffalo), is a species of bison that is endemic to North America. It is one of two extant species of bison, along with the European bison. Its historical range circa 9000 BC is referred to as the great bison belt, a tract of rich grassland spanning from Alaska south to the Gulf of Mexico, and east to the Atlantic Seaboard (nearly to the Atlantic tidewater in some areas), as far north as New York, south to Georgia, and according to some sources, further south to northern Florida, with sightings in North Carolina near Buffalo Ford on the Catawba River as late as 1750.

Two subspecies or ecotypes have been described: the plains bison (B. b. bison), smaller and with a more rounded hump; and the wood bison (B. b. athabascae), the larger of the two and having a taller, square hump. There has been a proposal to divide the plains bison into subspecies of northern (B. b. montanae) and southern (B. b. bison), but this proposal has limited scientific support. The wood bison is one of the largest wild species of extant bovid in the world, surpassed only by the Asian gaur. With wild animals weighing up to 1,270 kg (2,800 lb), the bison is among the heaviest extant land animals in North America and the heaviest herbivore.