MammalBase - Accepted taxon: Bison bison

Accepted taxon: Bison bison
Taxon:	Bison bison
Rank:	Species
Higher Classification:	ARTIODACTYLA \| Bovidae \| Bovinae \| Bison
Reference:	Wilson, Don E., and DeeAnn M. Reeder, eds. Mammal Species of the World. A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3rd ed), JHU Press, 2005.

Fig.1 - Ternary plot of the proximate analysis for the Bison bison diet.
CF (Crude Fibre) 30, ASH (Ash contents) 9, NFE (Nitrogen-Free-Extract) 47, CP (Crude Protein) 12, EE (Ether Extract) 2. See details for the calculations in Lintulaakso, K., Tatti, N. and Žliobaitė, I., 2022. Quantifying mammalian diets. Mammalian Biology, pp.1-15. [DOI]

Table 1. List of Diet Items for Bison bison.
TSN Complete name	Part	Ratio ^a.	Reference(s)
Poaceae	STEM	76.67	Damuth, J…
Magnoliopsida	SHOOT	15.83	Grzimek,B…
Cyperaceae	LEAF	7.50	Grzimek,B…

^a. Standardized values. See details for the calculations in Lintulaakso, K., Tatti, N. and Žliobaitė, I., 2022. Quantifying mammalian diets. Mammalian Biology, pp.1-15. [DOI]

Table 2. List of Standard Traits for Bison bison.
Trait	Selected Value	All Value(s)	Reference(s)
Dietary category: Eisenberg 1981	Herbivore-Grazer	Herbivore-Grazer,Herbivore-Mixed feeder	A. Myster…
Dietary category: Miljutin 2009	Herbivore	Herbivore	A. Myster…

Table 3. List of Standard Measurements for Bison bison.
Measurement	Location	Unit	n Total	n Unknown	n Female	n Male	Min	Mean	Max	SD	Reference(s)
Body Mass (BM)	nan	g	-	-	-	-	318,000	-	1,000,000	-	Freudenth…
Body Mass (BM)	nan	g	-	-	-	-	-	627,290	-	-	Wimberly,…

Table 4. List of other Measurements ^b. for Bison bison.
Measurement	Location	Unit	n Total	n Unknown	n Female	n Male	Min	Mean	Max	SD	Reference(s)
Length of the Masseteric Fossa		cm	9	9	-	-	-	25	-	-	Quibod, M…
Muzzle Width		cm	9	9	-	-	-	10	-	-	Quibod, M…
Total Length of the Skull		cm	9	9	-	-	-	48	-	-	Quibod, M…
A1-MLL (maximum lateral length of the astragalus)	nan	mm	5	5	-	-	72	75	80	3	Wimberly,…
A2-MML (maximum medial length of the astragalus)	nan	mm	5	5	-	-	69	71	75	3	Wimberly,…
A3-MIN (minimal length of the astragalus)	nan	mm	5	5	-	-	56	59	63	3	Wimberly,…
A4-WAT (width at tarsus of the astragalus)	nan	mm	5	5	-	-	47	51	55	4	Wimberly,…
A5-WAF (width at trochlea of the astragalus)	nan	mm	5	5	-	-	46	46	48	1	Wimberly,…
C1-UL (greatest length of the calcaneus)	nan	mm	5	5	-	-	144	154	165	10	Wimberly,…
C2-TL (length of body of the calcaneus)	nan	mm	5	5	-	-	94	100	107	6	Wimberly,…
C3-MBH (midbody height of the calcaneus)	nan	mm	5	5	-	-	38	42	46	3	Wimberly,…
C4-MBTV (midbody transverse width of the calcaneus)	nan	mm	5	5	-	-	19	22	25	2	Wimberly,…
C5-FFL (fibular facet length of the calcaneus)	nan	mm	5	5	-	-	31	35	38	3	Wimberly,…
C6-CNFL (cubonavicular facet length of the calcaneus)	nan	mm	5	5	-	-	37	42	45	4	Wimberly,…
C7-HSF (height of sustentacular facet of the calcaneus)	nan	mm	5	5	-	-	32	34	38	2	Wimberly,…
C8-HST (height of sustentaculum tali of the calcaneus)	nan	mm	5	5	-	-	50	53	58	3	Wimberly,…
F1-UL (full length of the femur)	nan	mm	5	5	-	-	370	406	445	33	Wimberly,…
F2-FL (functional length of the femur)	nan	mm	5	5	-	-	353	388	421	32	Wimberly,…
F3-MCF (midshaft circumference of the femur)	nan	mm	5	5	-	-	128	145	164	15	Wimberly,…
F4-PW (proximal width of the femur)	nan	mm	5	5	-	-	125	139	155	12	Wimberly,…
F5-MLHW (mediolateral femoral head of the femur)	nan	mm	5	5	-	-	70	76	84	6	Wimberly,…
F6-APHW (anteroposterior femoral head of the femur)	nan	mm	5	5	-	-	52	56	59	3	Wimberly,…
F7-DW (distal width of the femur)	nan	mm	5	5	-	-	99	108	118	8	Wimberly,…
F8-MPL (medial condyle and patellar lip of the femur)	nan	mm	5	5	-	-	131	140	150	9	Wimberly,…
F9-LPL (lateral condyle and patellar lip of the femur)	nan	mm	5	5	-	-	104	109	115	5	Wimberly,…
H1-UL (full length of the humerus)	nan	mm	5	5	-	-	311	345	379	30	Wimberly,…
H2-FL (functional length of the humerus)	nan	mm	5	5	-	-	280	309	340	26	Wimberly,…
H3-MCF (midshaft circumference of the humerus)	nan	mm	5	5	-	-	145	175	205	26	Wimberly,…
H4-MTH (largest medial height of trochlea of the humerus)	nan	mm	5	5	-	-	50	55	63	6	Wimberly,…
H5-MidTH (smallest height of trochlea of the humerus)	nan	mm	5	5	-	-	39	42	45	2	Wimberly,…
H6-LTH (largest lateral height of trochlea of the humerus)	nan	mm	5	5	-	-	45	47	49	2	Wimberly,…
H7-PW (proximal width of the humerus)	nan	mm	5	5	-	-	99	114	129	13	Wimberly,…
H8-MLH (mediolateral humeral head width of the humerus)	nan	mm	5	5	-	-	69	76	81	7	Wimberly,…
H9-DW (distal width of the humerus)	nan	mm	5	5	-	-	77	92	103	11	Wimberly,…
MC1-UL (length of the metacarpus)	nan	mm	5	5	-	-	185	192	198	6	Wimberly,…
MC2-MAP (anteroposterior midshaft of the metacarpus)	nan	mm	5	5	-	-	25	28	31	3	Wimberly,…
MC3-MML (mediolateral midshaft of the metacarpus)	nan	mm	5	5	-	-	36	42	49	6	Wimberly,…
MC4-DW (distal width of the metacarpus)	nan	mm	5	5	-	-	63	69	75	6	Wimberly,…
MC5-PW (proximal width of the metacarpus)	nan	mm	5	5	-	-	61	69	74	5	Wimberly,…
MT1-UL (length of the metatarsus)	nan	mm	5	5	-	-	224	238	253	13	Wimberly,…
MT2-MAP (anteroposterior midshaft of the metatarsus)	nan	mm	5	5	-	-	29	33	37	4	Wimberly,…
MT3-MML (mediolateral midshaft of the metatarsus)	nan	mm	5	5	-	-	30	34	40	5	Wimberly,…
MT4-DW (distal width of the metatarsus)	nan	mm	5	5	-	-	59	64	70	5	Wimberly,…
MT5-PW (proximal width of the metatarsus)	nan	mm	5	5	-	-	50	56	63	5	Wimberly,…
R1-UL (length of the radius)	nan	mm	5	5	-	-	282	309	340	25	Wimberly,…
R2-PW (full proximal width of the radius)	nan	mm	5	5	-	-	84	93	103	8	Wimberly,…
R3-NPW (width of humeral articular surface of the radius)	nan	mm	5	5	-	-	77	86	94	7	Wimberly,…
R4-DW (distal width of the radius)	nan	mm	5	5	-	-	74	84	93	8	Wimberly,…
S1-L (full length of the scapula)	nan	mm	5	5	-	-	397	460	513	58	Wimberly,…
S2-GW (greatest cranio-caudal length of the scapula)	nan	mm	5	5	-	-	204	238	267	31	Wimberly,…
S3-SW (shortest length of scapular neck of the scapula)	nan	mm	5	5	-	-	56	67	81	10	Wimberly,…
S4-GH (anteroposterior glenoid fossa of the scapula)	nan	mm	5	5	-	-	60	68	77	7	Wimberly,…
S5-GW (mediolateral glenoid fossa of the scapula)	nan	mm	5	5	-	-	48	57	64	7	Wimberly,…
T1-L (full length of the tibia)	nan	mm	5	5	-	-	339	369	401	30	Wimberly,…
T2-MCF (midshaft circumference of the tibia)	nan	mm	5	5	-	-	127	143	162	15	Wimberly,…
T3-PW (proximal width of the tibia)	nan	mm	5	5	-	-	105	114	123	8	Wimberly,…
T4-DW (distal width of the tibia)	nan	mm	5	5	-	-	67	71	78	4	Wimberly,…
U1-UL (length of the ulna)	nan	mm	5	5	-	-	361	404	447	40	Wimberly,…
U2-OPL (olecranon process length of the ulna)	nan	mm	5	5	-	-	96	115	130	16	Wimberly,…
average ungulate dietary grass fraction (proportional)	nan	unitless	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	Abraham, …
femur circumference	nan	mm	-	-	-	-	-	158	-	-	Nelson, A…
femur diameter	nan	mm	-	-	-	-	-	43	-	-	Nelson, A…
humerus circumference	nan	mm	-	-	-	-	-	172	-	-	Nelson, A…
humerus diameter	nan	mm	-	-	-	-	-	48	-	-	Nelson, A…
neck length	nan	mm	-	-	-	-	-	471	-	-	Nelson, A…

^b. other Measurements. Source Measurements which are not listed on or mapped with the Standard Traits..

Table 5. List of Data Sources for Bison bison.
Taxon	Reference	Match	Status
Bison bison	Mysterud,Atle, 2000, The Relationship between Ecological Segregation and Sexual Body Size Dimorphism in Large Herbivores, Oecologia	1: Exact Taxon match	Verified - Accepted
Bison bison	Clauss,M., 2002, Faecal particle size distribution in captive wild ruminants: an approach to the browser/grazer dichotomy from the other end, Oecologia	1: Exact Taxon match	Verified - Accepted
Bison bison	Clauss,M., 2010, Convergence in the macroscopic anatomy of the reticulum in wild ruminant species of different feeding types and a new resulting hypothesis on reticular function, Journal of zoology	1: Exact Taxon match	Verified - Accepted
Bison bison	Gordon,IJ, 1988, Incisor arcade structure and diet selection in ruminants, Functional Ecology	1: Exact Taxon match	Verified - Accepted
Bison bison	Loison,A., 1999, What factors shape sexual size dimorphism in ungulates?, Evolutionary Ecology Research	1: Exact Taxon match	Verified - Accepted
Bison bison	Mendoza,M., 2008, Hypsodonty in ungulates: an adaptation for grass consumption or for foraging in open habitat?, Journal of zoology	1: Exact Taxon match	Verified - Accepted
Bison bison	Damuth, J. 2010. ABSOLUT 6 a mammalian database compiled by the national center for ecological analysis and synthesis (NCEAS ) workshop on mammalian communities.	1: Exact Taxon match	Verified - Accepted
Bison bison	Reid,F., 2006, Peterson field guide to mammals of North America,	1: Exact Taxon match	Verified - Accepted
Bison bison	Nowak,R. M., 1991, Walker's mammals of the world,	1: Exact Taxon match	Verified - Accepted
Bison bison	Grzimek,B., 2003, Grzimek's Animal Life Encyclopedia: Mammals I-V,	1: Exact Taxon match	Verified - Accepted
Bison bison	Quibod, M.N.R.M., Gélin, U., van Langevelde, F. and Tomlinson, K.W., 2023. Diet-specific responses of skull traits to aridity gradients in bovids and cervids. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, p.zlad068.	1: Exact Taxon match	Verified - Accepted
Bison bison	DeMers, A.C., 2023. Functional Significance of the Mandible, Tooth Roots, and Tooth Crowns, and their Implications for Fossil Dietary Inference (Doctoral dissertation, The Ohio State University).	1: Exact Taxon match	Verified - Accepted
Bison bison	Wimberly, A.N., 2023. Predicting body mass in Ruminantia using postcranial measurements. Journal of Morphology, 284(10), p.e21636.	1: Exact Taxon match	Verified - Accepted
Bison bison	Abraham, J.O., Upham, N.S., Damian-Serrano, A. and Jesmer, B.R., 2022. Evolutionary causes and consequences of ungulate migration. Nature Ecology & Evolution, 6(7), pp.998-1006.	1: Exact Taxon match	Verified - Accepted
Bison bison	Lundgren, E.J., Schowanek, S.D., Rowan, J., Middleton, O., Pedersen, R.Ø., Wallach, A.D., Ramp, D., Davis, M., Sandom, C.J. and Svenning, J.C., 2021. Functional traits of the world’s late Quaternary large-bodied avian and mammalian herbivores. Scientific data, 8(1), p.17.	1: Exact Taxon match	Verified - Accepted
Bison bison	Nelson, A., Engelman, R.K. and Croft, D.A., 2023. How to weigh a fossil mammal? South American notoungulates as a case study for estimating body mass in extinct clades. Journal of Mammalian Evolution, 30(3), pp.773-809.	1: Exact Taxon match	Verified - Accepted
Bison bison	Freudenthal, M. and Martín-Suárez, E., 2013. Estimating body mass of fossil rodents. Scripta Geologica, 145, pp.1-513.	1: Exact Taxon match	Verified - Accepted

Citation for this page: [The MammalBase community 2025. / CC BY 4.0. http://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7462864 Bison bison , Accessed 27th March 2025 at https://mammalbase.net/me/15969]