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Definition: bison from Collins English Dictionary

n pl -son 1 Also called: American bison, buffalo a member of the cattle tribe, Bison bison, formerly widely distributed over the prairies of W North America but now confined to reserves and parks, with a massive head, shaggy forequarters, and a humped back 2 Also called: wisent, European bison a closely related and similar animal, Bison bonasus, formerly widespread in Europe

[C14: from Latin bisōn, of Germanic origin; related to Old English wesand, Old Norse vīsundr]


bison

From The Columbia Encyclopedia
large hoofed mammal, genus Bison , of the cattle family. Bison have short horns and humped, heavily mantled shoulders that slope downward to the hindquarters. The European bison, or wisent , Bison bonasus , has a less luxuriant mane and beard than the American species, B. bison. The American bison is commonly called buffalo, but true buffalo are African and Asian animals of the same family. B. bison is characterized by a huge, low-slung head and massive hump; its legs are shorter than those of the wisent. Males may reach a shoulder height of over 5 ft (1.5 m), a body length of 9 ft (2.7 m), and a weight of 2,500 lb (1,130 kg). The winter coat of the American bison is dark brown and shaggy; it is shed in spring and replaced by a coat of short, light-brown fur. Bison graze on prairie grasses, migrating south in search of food in the winter. They formerly were found over much of North America, especially on the Great Plains, and were hunted by Native Americans for their flesh and hides. …
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Full text Article bison

From Philip's Encyclopedia
European settlers hunted the American bison...
Two species of wild oxen formerly ranging over the grasslands and open woodlands of most of North America and Europe. Once numbered in millions, the American bison (often incorrectly called a buffalo ) is now almost extinct in the wild. The wisent (European bison) was reduced to two herds by the…
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Full text Article bison

From The Columbia Encyclopedia
large hoofed mammal, genus Bison , of the cattle family. Bison have short horns and humped, heavily mantled shoulders that slope downward to the hindquarters. The European bison, or wisent , Bison bonasus , has a less luxuriant mane and beard than the American species, B. bison. The American bison…
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Full text Article bison

From The Oxford Companion to Food
the name applied to two species of large animal in the family Bovidae, whose fate, broadly speaking, has been to be eaten up already and thus no longer available: Bison bison , the American bison (or N. American buffalo, or just buffalo), dark brown and bearded, once existing in enormous…
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Full text Article bison, American (Bison bison), European (B. bonasus - Wisent)

From Environmental History and Global Change: A Dictionary of Environmental History
Largest terrestrial animals in America and Europe (the European variety is still endangered). In N America there were c.30 million in 1800, but under 1,000 by 1900. The cultural and ecological encounter between native Americans and Europeans was the main cause of this destruction. Before the advent…
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Full text Article Bison, Extermination of the

From Gale Encyclopedia of U.S. Economic History
Bison graze in Grand Teton National Park in...
The American bison, commonly known as buffalo or plains buffalo, once roamed the Great Plains of North America in numbers as great as 75 million. By 1890, owing to increased hunting, commercial exploitation, and even systematic annihilation of the animals, fewer than 1,000 wild bison remained. The…
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Full text Article bison

From The Hutchinson Unabridged Encyclopedia with Atlas and Weather Guide
Large, hoofed mammal of the bovine family. There are two species, both brown. The European bison or wisent Bison bonasus , of which only a few protected herds survive, is about 2 m/7 ft high and weighs up to 1,100 kg/2,500 lb. The North American bison (also known historically as the North American…
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Full text Article bison

From Britannica Concise Encyclopedia
American bison, or plains buffalo (Bison bison)....
Either species (genus Bison ) of oxlike bovid with a convex forehead and a pronounced shoulder hump. Its dark brown, coarse hair is especially long on the head, which is held low, and on the neck and shoulders. Both sexes bear heavy, curved horns. A mature bull stands about 6.5 ft (2 m) at the…
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On the list of Americans who own the most land, media mogul Ted Turner has been No. 1 or No. 2 for much of the last couple decades. His two-million acres (more than three times the size of the entire state of Rhode Island) are primarily ranches in the western U.S. To put these lands to work, Turner…
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Full text Article bison

From The American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language
bison North American bison Bison bison Photo...
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Full text Article bison

From Collins English Dictionary
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