Bison bison (Linnaeus 1758)

[Bos] bison Linnaeus 1758, Syst. Nat., 10th ed., Vol. 1: 72.

Type Locality: "Habitat in Mexico, Florida"; identified as " Mexico " by Thomas (1911 a:154); restricted to USA, C Kansas, "Quivera" by Hershkovitz (1957 b); redesignated as USA, E New Mexico, Canadian River valley by McDonald (1981:62) .

Vernacular Names: American Bison.

Distribution: Formerly NW and C Canada, south through USA, to Chihuahua, Coahuila (Mexico). Exterminated in the wild except in Yellowstone Park, Wyoming (USA) and Wood Buffalo Park, Northwest Territory (Canada). Reintroduced widely within native range and in C Alaska.

Conservation: CITES – Appendix II as B. b. athabascae; U.S. ESA – Endangered in Canada as B. b. athabascae; IUCN – Lower Risk (cd).

Discussion: Reviewed by Meagher (1986, Mammalian Species, 266). Bison bison athabascae treated as a distinct taxon by Geist and Karsten (1977) and Van Zyll de Jong (1986), and assigned to † B. priscus by Flerov (1979), but regarded as an ecotype by Geist (1991).