107-634: The Cherokee Sewer Site is a multi-component Prehistoric Indian Archaic bison processing site excavated in 1973 and 1976 near the sewage treatment plant of Cherokee, Iowa , United States. (Note: It is not associated with the Cherokee tribe of the Southeast or Oklahoma.) Analysis of evidence from the site shows a transition in bison hunting strategy on the East Plains during the Archaic period in
214-582: A buffalo in the United States and Canada, it is only distantly related to the true buffalo . The North American species is composed of two subspecies, the Plains bison , B. b. bison , and the wood bison , B. b. athabascae , which is the namesake of Wood Buffalo National Park in Canada. A third subspecies, the eastern bison ( B. b. pennsylvanicus ) is no longer considered
321-445: A broad denuded area as a piedmont deposit by the rivers which issued from the mountains. Since then, it has been more or less dissected by the erosion of valleys. The central section of the plains thus presents a marked contrast to the northern section. While the northern section owes its smoothness to the removal of local gravels and sands from a formerly uneven surface by the action of degrading rivers and their inflowing tributaries,
428-602: A broad stretch of country underlain by nearly horizontal strata extending westward from the 97th meridian west to the base of the Rocky Mountains , a distance of 300 to 500 mi (480 to 800 km). It extends northward from the Mexican boundary far into Canada. Although the altitude of the plains increases gradually from 600 ft (180 m) or 1,200 ft (370 m) on the east to 4,000–5,000 ft (1,200–1,500 m) or 6,000 ft (1,800 m) near
535-494: A brown bear or a pack of wolves. The rutting, or mating, season lasts from June through September, with peak activity in July and August. At this time, the older bulls rejoin the herd, and fights often take place between bulls. The herd exhibits much restlessness during breeding season. The animals are belligerent, unpredictable, and most dangerous. American bison live in river valleys and on prairies and plains. Typical habitat
642-646: A code of ethics that prohibits its members from deliberately crossbreeding bison with any other species. In the United States, many ranchers are now using DNA testing to cull the residual cattle genetics from their bison herds. The proportion of cattle DNA that has been measured in introgressed individuals and bison herds today is typically quite low, ranging from 0.56 to 1.8%. There are also remnant purebred American bison herds on public lands in North America. Two subspecies of bison exist in North America:
749-640: A fertile hybrid of bison and domestic cattle. A market even exists for kosher bison meat; these bison are slaughtered at one of the few kosher mammal slaughterhouses in the U.S. and Canada, and the meat is then distributed worldwide. In America, the commercial industry for bison has been slow to develop despite individuals, such as Ted Turner , who have long marketed bison meat. In the 1990s, Turner found limited success with restaurants for high-quality cuts of meat, which include bison steaks and tenderloin. Lower-quality cuts suitable for hamburger and hot dogs have been described as "almost nonexistent". This created
856-550: A gradual transition, this rainfall line may be taken to divide the drier plains from the moister prairies. However, in Canada the eastern boundary of the plains is well defined by the presence of the Canadian Shield to the northeast. The plains (within the United States) may be described in northern, intermediate, central and southern sections, in relation to certain peculiar features. In Canada, no such division
963-643: A marketing problem for commercial farming because the majority of usable meat, about 400 pounds for each bison, is suitable for these products. In 2003, the United States Department of Agriculture purchased $ 10 million worth of frozen overstock to save the industry, which would later recover through better use of consumer marketing. Restaurants have played a role in popularizing bison meat, like Ted's Montana Grill , which added bison to their menus. Ruby Tuesday first offered bison on their menus in 2005. In Canada, commercial bison farming began in
1070-413: A specialized stomach prior to digestion. Bison were once thought to almost exclusively consume grasses and sedges, but are now known to consume a wide-variety of plants including woody plants and herbaceous eudicots. Over the course of the year, bison shift which plants they select in their diet based on which plants have the highest protein or energy concentrations at a given time and will reliably consume
1177-592: A sub-section of the even more vast Interior Plains physiographic division, which covers much of the interior of North America. It also has currency as a region of human geography , referring to the Plains Indians or the Plains states . In Canada the term is rarely used; Natural Resources Canada , the government department responsible for official mapping, treats the Interior Plains as one unit consisting of several related plateaus and plains. There
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#17327797345761284-591: A valid taxon , being a junior synonym of B. b. bison . References to "woods bison" or "wood bison" from the Eastern United States refer to this subspecies, not B. b. athabascae , which was not found in the region. The European bison , B. bonasus , or wisent, or zubr, or colloquially European buffalo, is found in Europe and the Caucasus , reintroduced after being extinct in
1391-594: A west-northwest direction in what is now Oklahoma and Texas which is now known as the De Soto Trail. The Spanish thought that the Great Plains were the location of the mythological Quivira and Cíbola , a place said to be rich in gold. People in the southwest began to acquire horses in the 16th century by trading or stealing them from Spanish colonists in New Mexico. As horse culture moved northward,
1498-518: Is a common behavior of bison. A bison wallow is a shallow depression in the soil, either wet or dry. Bison roll in these depressions, covering themselves with mud or dust. Possible explanations suggested for wallowing behavior include grooming behavior associated with moulting, male-male interaction (typically rutting behavior), social behavior for group cohesion, play behavior, relief from skin irritation due to biting insects, reduction of ectoparasite load ( ticks and lice ), and thermoregulation. In
1605-404: Is about 500 mi (800 km) east to west and 2,000 mi (3,200 km) north to south. Much of the region was home to American bison herds until they were hunted to near extinction during the mid/late-19th century. It has an area of approximately 500,000 sq mi (1,300,000 km ). Current thinking regarding the geographic boundaries of the Great Plains is shown by this map at
1712-473: Is also considered correct as a result of standard usage in American English, and is listed in many dictionaries as an acceptable name for American buffalo or bison. "Buffalo" has a much longer history than "bison", which was first recorded in 1774. Bison was a significant resource for indigenous peoples of North America for food and raw materials until near extinction in the late 19th century. For
1819-526: Is extraordinarily smooth. It is very dry, except for occasional shallow and temporary water sheets after rains. Llano is separated from the plains on the north by the mature consequent valley of the Canadian River , and from the mountains on the west by the broad and probably mature valley of the Pecos River . On the east, it is strongly undercut by the retrogressive erosion of the headwaters of
1926-665: Is found on the plains around the Henry Mountains , Utah , as well as in mountain valleys of the Henry Mountains to an altitude of 3,000 metres (10,000 ft). European bison most commonly live in lightly wooded to fully wooded areas as well as areas with increased shrubs and bushes. European bison can sometimes be found living on grasslands and plains as well. Throughout most of their historical range, landowners have sought restrictions on free-ranging bison. Herds on private land are required to be fenced in. In
2033-499: Is low. Reproduction is dependent on a cow's mass and age. Heavier cows produce heavier calves (weighed in the fall at weaning), and weights of calves are lower for older cows (after age 8). Owing to their size, bison have few predators. Five exceptions are humans , grey wolves , cougars , grizzly bears , and coyotes . Wolves generally take down a bison while in a pack, but cases of a single wolf killing bison have been reported. Grizzly bears also consume bison, often by driving off
2140-602: Is no region referred to as the "Great Plains" in the Atlas of Canada . In terms of human geography, the term prairie is more commonly used in Canada, and the region is known as the Canadian Prairies , prairie provinces or simply "the prairies". The North American Environmental Atlas , produced by the Commission for Environmental Cooperation , a North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) agency composed of
2247-512: Is open or semiopen grasslands, as well as sagebrush, semiarid lands, and scrublands. Some lightly wooded areas are also known historically to have supported bison. They also graze in hilly or mountainous areas where the slopes are not steep. Although not particularly known as high-altitude animals, bison in the Yellowstone Park bison herd are frequently found at elevations above 2,400 metres (8,000 ft). The Henry Mountains bison herd
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#17327797345762354-506: Is peculiarly elaborate. Known as the Badlands , it is a minutely dissected form with a relief of a few hundred feet. This is due to several causes: The central section of the Great Plains, between latitudes 42° and 36° , occupying eastern Colorado and western Kansas , is mostly a dissected fluviatile plain. That is, this section was once smoothly covered with a gently sloping plain of gravel and sand that had been spread far forward on
2461-455: Is used: the climatic and vegetation regions are more impactful on human settlement than mere topography, and therefore the region is split into (from north to south), the taiga plains, boreal plains , aspen parkland , and prairie ecoregion regions. The northern section of the Great Plains, north of latitude 44° , includes eastern Montana , eastern Wyoming , most of North Dakota and South Dakota , southwestern Minnesota and portions of
2568-563: The American burying beetle (Nicrophorus americus), Salt Creek Tiger Beetle (Cinidela nevadica lincolniana), Great Plains Giant Tiger Beetle (Amblycheila chylindriformis), Microstylum morosum , Bean leaf beetle (Cerotoma trifurcata), Great Plains Camel Cricket (Daihinia brevipes), and the Great plains spittlebug (Lepyronia gibbosa). Some species in the Great plains have gone extinct in
2675-521: The Antelope Island bison herd are regularly inoculated against brucellosis, parasites, Clostridium infection, infectious bovine rhinotracheitis, and bovine vibriosis. The major illnesses in European bison are foot-and-mouth disease and balanoposthitis . Inbreeding of a small population plays a role in a number of genetic defects and lowers immunity to disease; that poses greater risk to
2782-593: The Arikara , Mandan , Pawnee , and Wichita . Wars with the Ojibwe and Cree peoples pushed the Lakota (Teton Sioux) west onto the Great Plains in the mid- to late-17th century. The Shoshone originated in the western Great Basin and spread north and east into present-day Idaho and Wyoming. By 1500, some Eastern Shoshone had crossed the Rocky Mountains into the Great Plains. After 1750, warfare and pressure from
2889-825: The Department of the Interior . In contrast, U.S. Forest Service , an agency of the U. S. Department of Agriculture , administers the National Forests and National Grasslands, under a multiple-use concept. By law, the U.S. Forest Service must consider all resources, with no single resource emphasized to the detriment of others, including water, soil, grazing, timber harvesting, and minerals (mining and drilling), as well as recreation and conservation of fish and wildlife. Each individual state also administers state lands, typically smaller areas, for various purposes including conservation and recreation. Grasslands are among
2996-678: The Great Lakes and Appalachian Plateau , and the Taiga Plains and Boreal Plains ecozones in Northern Canada . "Great Plains", or Western Plains , is also the ecoregion of the Great Plains or alternatively the western portion of the Great Plains. The Great Plains lie across both the Central United States and Western Canada , encompassing: The term "Great Plains" is used in the United States to describe
3103-968: The Great Plains toad ( Anaxyrus cognatus ), plains leopard frog ( Lithobates blairi ), and plains spadefoot toad ( Spea bombifrons ). Some species predominately associated with various river basins in the Great Plains include sturgeon chub ( Macrhybopsis gelida ), peppered chub ( Macrhybopsis tetranema ), prairie chub ( Macrhybopsis australis ), western silvery minnow ( Hybognathus argyritis ), plains minnow ( Hybognathus placitus ), smalleye shiner ( Notropis buccula ), Arkansas River shiner ( Notropis girardi ), Red River shiner ( Notropis bairdi ), Topeka shiner ( Notropis topeka ), plains topminnow ( Fundulus sciadicus ), plains killifish ( Fundulus zebrinus ), Red River pupfish ( Cyprinodon rubrofluviatilis ), and Arkansas darter ( Etheostoma cragini ). The great plains also has many invertebrate species living here both alive and extinct such as
3210-720: The Henry Mountains bison herd to be free of brucellosis , a bacterial disease that was imported with non-native domestic cattle to North America. In 2021, the American Society of Mammalogists considered Bison to be a subgenus, and placed both bison species back into Bos . Relationships of bovines based on nuclear DNA, after Sinding, et al. 2021. Bubalina (true buffalo) Bos primigenius + Bos taurus (aurochs and cattle) Bos mutus (wild yak) Bison bison (American bison) Bison bonasus (European bison/wisent) Bos javanicus (banteng) Bos gaurus (gaur) Bos sauveli (kouprey) Wallowing
3317-774: The Late Pliocene to Early Pleistocene in Asia. The earliest members of the bison lineage, known from the Late Pliocene to Early Pleistocene of the Indian Subcontinent ( Bison sivalensis ) and China ( Bison palaeosinensis ), approximately 3.4-2.6 million years ago (Ma) are placed in the subgenus Bison ( Eobison ) . The oldest remains of Eobison in Europe are those Bison georgicus found in Dmanisi , Georgia, dated to around 1.76 Ma. More derived members of
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3424-540: The National Register of Historic Places . Bison A bison ( pl. : bison ) is a large bovine in the genus Bison (Greek: "wild ox" (bison) ) within the tribe Bovini . Two extant and numerous extinct species are recognised. Of the two surviving species, the American bison , B. bison , found only in North America , is the more numerous. Although colloquially referred to as
3531-504: The indigenous peoples of the Plains , it was their principal food source. Native Americans highly valued their relationship with the bison and saw them as sacred, treating them respectfully to ensure their abundance and longevity. In his biography, Lakota teacher and elder John Fire Lame Deer describes the relationship as such: The buffalo gave us everything we needed. Without it we were nothing. Our tipis were made of his skin. His hide
3638-415: The mitochondrial DNA of European bison is more closely related to that of domestic cattle and aurochs (while the mitochondrial DNA of American bison is closely related to that of yaks). This discrepancy is either suggested to be the result of incomplete lineage sorting or ancient introgression . Bison are widely believed to have evolved from a lineage belonging to the extinct genus Leptobos during
3745-807: The plains bison and the wood bison . Herds of importance are found in Yellowstone National Park , Wind Cave National Park in South Dakota , Blue Mounds State Park in Minnesota , Elk Island National Park in Alberta , and Grasslands National Park in Saskatchewan . In 2015, a purebred herd of 350 individuals was identified on public lands in the Henry Mountains of southern Utah via genetic testing of mitochondrial and nuclear DNA. This study, published in 2015, also showed
3852-419: The 1980 report. The evidence showed that there was a shift in the age of bison killed "from younger animals to older ones" during what is now known as the "mid-Holocene, roughly 6,000 years BP. Together these results suggest that "bison hunters on the eastern Plains used different adaptive strategies to cope with climate change than those seen on the western Plains." The site is listed as an archeological site on
3959-594: The 19th and 20th centuries, but have since rebounded. The wisent in part owes its survival to the Chernobyl disaster, as the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone has become a kind of wildlife preserve for wisent and other rare megafauna such as the Przewalski's horse , though poaching has become a threat in recent years. The American Plains bison is no longer listed as endangered , but this does not mean
4066-484: The 19th century, although the causes of decline and the numbers killed are disputed and debated. Railroads were advertising "hunting by rail", where trains encountered large herds alongside or crossing the tracks. Men aboard fired from the train's roof or windows, leaving countless animals to rot where they died. This overhunting was in part motivated by the U.S. government's desire to limit the range and power of indigenous plains Indians whose diets and cultures depended on
4173-652: The American and European bison. The American species has 15 ribs, while the European bison has 14. The American bison has four lumbar vertebrae, while the European has five. (The difference in this case is that what would be the first lumbar vertebra has ribs attached to it in American bison and is thus counted as the 15th thoracic vertebra, compared to 14 thoracic vertebrae in wisent.) Adult American bison are less slim in build and have shorter legs. American bison tend to graze more, and browse less than their European relatives. Their anatomies reflect this behavioural difference;
4280-588: The American bison's head hangs lower than the European's. The body of the American bison is typically hairier, though its tail has less hair than that of the European bison. The horns of the European bison point through the plane of their faces, making them more adept at fighting through the interlocking of horns in the same manner as domestic cattle, unlike the American bison, which favours butting. American bison are more easily tamed than their European cousins, and breed with domestic cattle more readily. The bovine tribe (Bovini) split about 5 to 10 million years ago into
4387-645: The Americas . Data from the Cherokee sewer excavations produced some of the earliest models for climate change in the Midwest. A revisiting in the 1990s of "bison dentition and fetal elements" from the site indicates that the indigenous people of the Paleoindian and Early Archaic horizons conducted a late-fall to early-winter season of bison kill, rather than a mid- to late-winter season of kill, as suggested in
Cherokee Sewer Site - Misplaced Pages Continue
4494-655: The Asian water buffalo and the African buffalo . Samuel de Champlain applied the French term buffle to the bison in 1616 (published 1619), after seeing skins and a drawing shown to him by members of the Nipissing First Nation , who said they travelled 40 days (from east of Lake Huron) to trade with another nation who hunted the animals. Though "bison" might be considered more scientifically correct, "buffalo"
4601-556: The Blackfoot, Crow, Lakota, Cheyenne, and Arapaho pushed Eastern Shoshone south and westward. Some of them moved as far south as Texas, emerging as the Comanche by 1700. The first known contact between Europeans and Indians in the Great Plains occurred in what is now Texas, Kansas, and Nebraska from 1540 to 1542 with the arrival of Francisco Vázquez de Coronado , a Spanish conquistador. In that same period, Hernando de Soto crossed
4708-503: The Canadian provinces including southeastern Alberta , southern Saskatchewan and southwestern Manitoba . The strata here are Cretaceous or early Tertiary , lying nearly horizontal. The surface is shown to be a plain of degradation by a gradual ascent here and there to the crest of a ragged escarpment, the escarpment-remnant of a resistant stratum. There are also the occasional lava -capped mesas and dike formed ridges, surmounting
4815-462: The Center for Great Plains Studies, University of Nebraska–Lincoln . This definition, however, is primarily ecological, not physiographic. The Boreal Plains of Western Canada are physiographically the same, but differentiated by their tundra and forest (rather than grassland) appearance. The term "Great Plains", for the region west of about the 96th meridian west and east of the Rocky Mountains ,
4922-557: The Comanche were among the first to commit to a fully mounted nomadic lifestyle. This occurred by the 1730s, when they had acquired enough horses to put all their people on horseback. The real beginning of the horse culture of the plains began with the Pueblo Revolt of 1680 in New Mexico and the capture of thousands of horses and other livestock. In 1683 a Spanish expedition into Texas found horses among Native people. In 1690,
5029-621: The DV) of thiamine. The earliest plausible accounts of captive bison are those of the zoo at Tenochtitlan , the Aztec capital, which held an animal the Spaniards called "the Mexican bull". In 1552, Francisco Lopez de Gomara described Plains Indians herding and leading bison like cattle in his controversial book, Historia general de las Indias . Gomara, having never visited the Americas himself, likely misinterpreted early ethnographic accounts as
5136-846: The European bison (wisent) are the largest surviving terrestrial animals in North America and Europe. They are typical artiodactyl (cloven hooved) ungulates, and are similar in appearance to other bovines such as cattle and true buffalo. They are broad and muscular with shaggy coats of long hair. Adults grow up to 2 metres (6 feet 7 inches) in height and 3.5 m (11 ft 6 in) in length for American bison and up to 2.1 m (6 ft 11 in) in height and 2.9 m (9 ft 6 in) in length for European bison. American bison can weigh from around 400 to 1,270 kilograms (880 to 2,800 pounds) and European bison can weigh from 800 to 1,000 kg (1,800 to 2,200 lb). European bison tend to be taller than American bison. Bison are nomadic grazers and travel in herds . The bulls leave
5243-551: The Great Plains and into the valleys and lower elevations of the eastern Rocky Mountains and portions of the American southwest . Other snakes include the plains hog-nosed snake ( Heterodon nasicus ), western milksnake ( Lampropeltis gentilis ), great plains ratsnake ( Pantherophis emoryi ), bullsnake ( Pituophis catenifer sayi ), plains black-headed snake ( Tantilla nigriceps ), plains gartersnake ( Thamnophis radix ), and lined snake ( Tropidoclonion lineatum ). Reptile diversity increases significantly in southern regions of
5350-629: The Great Plains and that included trade networks west to the Rocky Mountains. Mississippians settled the Great Plains at sites now in Oklahoma and South Dakota . Siouan language speakers may have originated in the lower Mississippi River region. They were agriculturalists and may have been part of the Mound Builder civilization during the 9th–12th centuries. Pressure from other Indian tribes, themselves driven west and south by
5457-588: The Great Plains include National Parks and National Monuments, administers by the National Park Service with the responsibility of preserving ecological and historical places and making them available to the public. The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service manages the National Wildlife Refuges, with the primary responsibility of conserving and protecting fish, wildlife, plants, and habitat in the public trust. Both are agencies of
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#17327797345765564-476: The Great Plains include the swift fox ( Vulpes velox ) and the endangered black-footed ferret ( Mustela nigripes ). The lesser prairie chicken ( Tympanuchus pallidicinctus ) is endemic to the Great Plains and the distribution of the greater prairie chicken ( Tympanuchus cupido ) predominantly occurs in the region, although the latter historically ranged further eastward. The Harris's sparrow ( Zonotrichia querula ) spends winter months in southern areas of
5671-512: The Great Plains is the most tornado active area in the world and is sometimes referred to as Tornado Alley . The Great Plains are part of the floristic North American Prairies province , which extends from the Rocky Mountains to the Appalachians . Although the American bison ( Bison bison ) historically ranged throughout much of North America (from New York to Oregon and Canada to northern Mexico), they are strongly associated with
5778-751: The Great Plains where they once roamed in immense herds. Pronghorn ( Antilocapra americana ) range into western areas of the region. The black-tailed prairie dog ( Cynomys ludovicianus ) is another iconic species among several rodents that are linked to the region including the thirteen-lined ground squirrel ( Ictidomys tridecemlineatus ), spotted ground squirrel ( Xerospermophilus spilosoma ), Franklin's ground squirrel ( Poliocitellus franklinii ), plains pocket gopher ( Geomys bursarius ), hispid pocket mouse ( Chaetodipus hispidus ), olive-backed pocket mouse ( Perognathus fasciatus ), plains pocket mouse ( Perognathus flavescens ), and plains harvest mouse ( Reithrodontomys montanus ), Two carnivores associated with
5885-488: The Great Plains. The ornate box turtle ( Terrapene ornata ) and great plains skink ( Plestiodon obsoletus ) occur in southern areas. Although few salamanders are strongly associated with region, the western tiger salamander ( Ambystoma mavortium ) ranges through much of the Great Plains and the Rocky Mountains, as does the Rocky Mountain toad ( Anaxyrus w. woodhousi ). Other anurans related to region include
5992-503: The High Plains) is periodically subjected to extended periods of drought ; high winds in the region may then generate devastating dust storms . The eastern Great Plains near the eastern boundary falls in the humid subtropical climate zone in the southern areas, and the northern and central areas fall in the humid continental climate . Many thunderstorms occur in the plains in the spring through summer. The southeastern portion of
6099-650: The Red, Brazos, and Colorado rivers of Texas and presents a ragged escarpment approximately 500 to 800 ft (150 to 240 m) high, overlooking the central denuded area of that state. There, between the Brazos and Colorado rivers, occurs a series of isolated outliers capped by limestone that underlies both the Llano Uplift on the west and the Grand Prairies escarpment on the east. The southern and narrow part of
6206-542: The Wild (made by Diamond Pet Foods, Inc., owned by Schell and Kampeter, Inc.). Great Plains The Great Plains are a broad expanse of flatland in North America . The region is located just to the east of the Rocky Mountains , much of it covered in prairie , steppe , and grassland . They are the western part of the Interior Plains , which include the mixed grass prairie , the tallgrass prairie between
6313-653: The area of the ancient Great Plains for thousands to millions of years. The vast majority of these animals became extinct in North America at the end of the Pleistocene (around 13,000 years ago). A number of significant fossil sites are located in the Great Plains including Agate Fossil Beds National Monument ( Nebraska ), Ashfall Fossil Beds ( Nebraska ), Clayton Lake State Park ( New Mexico ), Dinosaur Valley State Park ( Texas ), Hudson-Meng Bison Kill (Nebraska), Makoshika State Park (Montana), and The Mammoth Site ( South Dakota ). Public and protected lands in
6420-416: The bison's population to nearly 150,000, and it is officially no longer considered an endangered species . However, from a genetic standpoint, most of these animals are actually hybrids with domestic cattle and only two populations in Yellowstone National Park in the United States and Elk Island National Park in Canada remain as genetically pure bison. These genetically pure animals account for only ~5% of
6527-427: The buffalo herds. The overhunting of the bison reduced their population to hundreds. The American bison's nadir came in 1889, with an estimated population of only 1,091 animals (both wild and captive). Repopulation attempts via enforced protection of government herds and extensive ranching began in 1910 and have continued (with excellent success) to the present day, with some caveats. Extensive farming has increased
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#17327797345766634-402: The buffalos ( Bubalus and Syncerus ) and a group leading to bison and taurine cattle. Genetic evidence from nuclear DNA indicates that the closest living relatives of bison are yaks , with bison being nested within the genus Bos , rendering Bos without including bison paraphyletic . While nuclear DNA indicates that both extant bison species are each other's closest living relatives,
6741-471: The central section, it is for the most part a dissected fluviatile plain. However, the lower lands which surround it on all sides place it in such strong relief that it stands up as a table-land, known from the time of Mexican occupation as the Llano Estacado . It measures roughly 150 mi (240 km) east-west and 400 mi (640 km) north-south. It is of very irregular outline, narrowing to
6848-498: The currently extant American bison population, reflecting the loss of most of the species' genetic diversity. As of July 2015, an estimated 4,900 bison lived in Yellowstone National Park , the largest U.S. bison population on public land. During 1983–1985 visitors experienced 33 bison-related injuries (range = 10–13/year), so the park implemented education campaigns. After years of success, five injuries associated with bison encounters occurred in 2015, because visitors did not maintain
6955-475: The encroachment of European settlers as well as economic incentives such as the fur trade, alongside the arrival of the horse and firearms from Europe pushed multiple tribes onto the Great Plains. Among those to have lived on the Great Plains were the Blackfoot , Crow , Sioux , Cheyenne , Arapaho , Comanche , and others. Eastern portions of the Great Plains were inhabited by tribes who lived at Etzanoa and in semi-permanent villages of earth lodges, such as
7062-519: The females were fertile. The crossbred animals did not demonstrate any form of hybrid vigor , so the practice was abandoned. Wisent-American bison hybrids were briefly experimented with in Germany (and found to be fully fertile) and a herd of such animals is maintained in Russia. A herd of cattle-wisent crossbreeds ( zubron ) is maintained in Poland. First-generation crosses do not occur naturally, requiring caesarean delivery. First-generation males are infertile. The U.S. National Bison Association has adopted
7169-433: The general level by 500 ft (150 m) or more and manifestly demonstrating the widespread erosion of the surrounding plains. All these reliefs are more plentiful towards the mountains in central Montana. The peneplain is no longer in the cycle of erosion that witnessed its production. It appears to have suffered a regional uplift or increase in elevation, for the upper Missouri River and its branches no longer flow on
7276-459: The genus are placed in the subgenus Bison ( Bison ), which first appeared towards the end of the Early Pleistocene, around 1.2 Ma, with early members of the subgenus including the widespread Bison schoetensacki . The steppe bison ( Bison priscus ) first appeared during the mid- Middle Pleistocene in eastern Eurasia, and subsequently became widely distributed across Eurasia. During the late Middle Pleistocene, around 195,000-135,000 years ago,
7383-517: The geographical agencies of the Mexican, American, and Canadian governments, uses the "Great Plains" as an ecoregion synonymous with predominant prairies and grasslands rather than as physiographic region defined by topography. The Great Plains ecoregion includes five sub-regions: Temperate Prairies, West-Central Semi-Arid Prairies, South-Central Semi-Arid Prairies, Texas Louisiana Coastal Plains, and Tamaulipas-Texas Semi-Arid Plain, which overlap or expand upon other Great Plains designations. The region
7490-426: The great plains like the Rocky Mountain Locust (Melanoplus spretus). During the Cretaceous Period (145–66 million years ago), the Great Plains were covered by a shallow inland sea called the Western Interior Seaway . However, during the Late Cretaceous to the Paleocene (65–55 million years ago), the seaway had begun to recede, leaving behind thick marine deposits and a relatively flat terrain which
7597-467: The herds of females at two or three years of age, and join a herd of males, which usually are smaller than female herds. Mature bulls rarely travel alone. Towards the end of the summer, for the reproductive season, the sexes necessarily commingle. American bison are known for living in the Great Plains , but formerly had a much larger range, including much of the eastern United States and parts of Mexico. Both species were hunted close to extinction during
7704-412: The higher quality forage that regrows after the burn. Wisent tend to browse on shrubs and low-hanging trees more often than do the American bison, which prefer grass to shrubbery and trees. Female bison ("cows") typically reproduce after three years of age and can continue beyond 19 years of age. Cows produce calves annually as long as their nutrition is sufficient, but not after years when weight gain
7811-478: The horns borne by both males and females, but their massive heads can be used as battering rams, effectively using the momentum produced by what is a typical weight of 900 to 1,200 kilograms (2,000 to 2,700 lb) moving at 50 km/h (30 mph). The hind legs can also be used to kill or maim with devastating effect. In the words of early naturalists, they were dangerous, savage animals that feared no other animal and in prime condition could best any foe except for
7918-501: The largest group. They rise like a large island from the sea, occupying an oval area of about 100 mi (160 km) north-south by 50 mi (80 km) east-west. At Black Elk Peak , they reach an altitude of 7,216 ft (2,199 m) and have an effective relief over the plains of 2,000 or 3,000 ft (610 or 910 m) This mountain mass is of flat-arched, dome-like structure, now well dissected by radiating consequent streams. The weaker uppermost strata have been eroded down to
8025-575: The late Middle Pleistocene, where it existed in sympatry with the steppe bison. Its relationship with other extinct bison species is unclear, though it appears to be only distantly related to the steppe and American bisons, with possibly some interbreeding between the two lineages during the Middle Pleistocene. The steppe bison survived into the early-mid Holocene in Alaska-Yukon and eastern Siberia, before becoming extinct. During
8132-468: The least protected biomes. Humans have converted much of the prairies for agricultural purposes or to create pastures. Several of the protected lands in the region are centered around aberrant and uncharacteristic features of the region, such as mountains, outcrops, and canyons (e.g. Devil's Tower National Monument , Wind Cave National Park , Scotts Bluff National Monument ), and as splendid and worthy as they are, they are not primarily focused on conserving
8239-426: The level of the plains where their upturned edges are evenly truncated. The next following harder strata have been sufficiently eroded to disclose the core of underlying igneous and metamorphic crystalline rocks in about half of the domed area. In the intermediate section of the plains, between latitudes 44° and 42° , including southern South Dakota and northern Nebraska , the erosion of certain large districts
8346-484: The line that divides the Great Plains into an area that receives 20 in (510 mm) or more of rainfall per year and an area that receives less than 20 in (510 mm). In this context, the High Plains, as well as Southern Alberta , south-western Saskatchewan and Eastern Montana are mainly semi arid steppe land and are generally characterised by rangeland or marginal farmland . The region (especially
8453-513: The mid-1980s, concerning an unknown number of animals then. The first census of the bison occurred in 1996, which recorded 45,235 bison on 745 farms, and grew to 195,728 bison on 1,898 farms for the 2006 census. Several pet food companies use bison as a red meat alternative in dog foods. The companies producing these formulas include Natural Balance Pet Foods , Freshpet , the Blue Buffalo Company, Solid Gold, Canidae, and Taste of
8560-760: The more common "prairie". The Great Plains are the westernmost portion of the vast North American Interior Plains , which extend east to the Appalachian Plateau . The United States Geological Survey divides the Great Plains in the United States into ten physiographic subdivisions: Further to this can be added Canadian physiographic sub-regions such as the Alberta Plain, Cypress Hills , Manitoba Escarpment (eastward), Manitoba Plain, Missouri Coteau (shared), Rocky Mountain Foothills (eastward), and Saskatchewan Plain. The Great Plains consist of
8667-477: The more familiar pastoralist relationship of the Old World . Today, bison are increasingly raised for meat , hides , wool , and dairy products. The majority of bison in the world are raised for human consumption or fur clothing. Bison meat is generally considered to taste very similar to beef, but is lower in fat and cholesterol , yet higher in protein than beef, which has led to the development of beefalo ,
8774-442: The mountains, the local relief is generally small. The semi-arid climate excludes tree growth and opens far-reaching views. The plains are by no means a simple unit. They are of diverse structure and of various stages of erosional development. They are occasionally interrupted by buttes and escarpments . They are frequently broken by valleys. Yet on the whole, a broadly extended surface of moderate relief so often prevails that
8881-436: The name, Great Plains, for the region as a whole is well-deserved. The western boundary of the plains is usually well-defined by the abrupt ascent of the mountains. The eastern boundary of the plains (in the United States) is more climatic than topographic . The line of 20 in (510 mm) of annual rainfall trends a little east of northward near the 97th meridian. If a boundary must be drawn where nature presents only
8988-490: The pack and consuming the wolves' kill. Grizzly bears and coyotes also prey on bison calves. Historically and prehistorically, lions , cave lions , tigers , dire wolves , Smilodon , Homotherium , cave hyenas , and Neanderthals posed threats to bison. For American bison, a main illness is malignant catarrhal fever , though brucellosis is a serious concern in the Yellowstone Park bison herd. Bison in
9095-528: The pipe leaning against it, was our sacred altar. The name of the greatest of all Sioux was Tatanka Iyotake—Sitting Bull . When you killed off the buffalo you also killed the Indian—the real, natural, "wild" Indian. European colonials were almost exclusively accountable for the near-extinction of the American bison in the 1800s. At the beginning of the century, tens of millions of bison roamed North America. Colonists slaughtered an estimated 50 million bison during
9202-434: The plains and prairies. United States: Canada: the Great Plains biome is found to be at the brink of collapse due to woody plant encroachment , with 62% of Northern American grassland lost to date. The first Peoples ( Paleo-Indians ) arrived on the Great Plains thousands of years ago. The introduction of corn around 800 CE allowed the development of the mound-building Mississippian culture along rivers that crossed
9309-552: The population bottleneck caused by the great slaughter of American bison during the 19th century, the number of bison remaining alive in North America declined to as low as 541. During that period, a handful of ranchers gathered remnants of the existing herds to save the species from extinction. These ranchers bred some of the bison with cattle in an effort to produce "cattleo" (today called " beefalo "). Accidental crossings were also known to occur. Generally, male domestic bulls were crossed with bison cows, producing offspring of which only
9416-683: The population. The name 'bison' was first used for the European species ; ancient Greek authors Pausanias and Oppian in 2nd-century AD wrote about them in Greek as βίσων bisōn . Roman authors Pliny the Elder and Gaius Julius Solinus used the word bĭson in Latin as well. It was made into a genus name by Charles Hamilton Smith in 1827. Although called "buffalo" in American English, they are only distantly related to two "true buffalo",
9523-419: The process of wallowing, bison may become infected by the fatal disease anthrax , which may occur naturally in the soil. Bison temperament is often unpredictable. They usually appear peaceful, unconcerned, or even lazy, but they may attack without warning or apparent reason. They can move at speeds up to 56 km/h (35 mph) and cover long distances at a lumbering gallop. Their most obvious weapons are
9630-647: The region. Other species migrate from the south in the spring and spend their breeding season on the plains, including the white-faced ibis ( Plegadis chihi ), mountain plover ( Charadrius montanus ), marbled godwit ( Limosa fedoa ), Sprague's pipit ( Anthus spragueii ), Cassin's sparrow ( Peucaea cassinii ), Baird's sparrow ( Centronyx bairdii ), lark bunting ( Calamospiza melanocorys ), chestnut-collared longspur ( Calcarius ornatus ), thick-billed longspur or McCown's longspur ( Rhynchophanes mccownii ), and dickcissel ( Spiza americana ). The prairie rattlesnake ( Crotalus viridis ) ranges throughout much of
9737-472: The required distance of 75 ft (23 m) from bison while hiking or taking pictures. Bison is an excellent source of complete protein and a rich source (20% or more of the Daily Value, DV) of multiple vitamins, including riboflavin, niacin, vitamin B 6 , and vitamin B 12 , and is also a rich source of minerals, including iron, phosphorus, and zinc. Additionally, bison is a good source (10% or more of
9844-474: The river from a better graded preglacial valley by the Pleistocene ice sheet . Here, the ice sheet overspread the plains from the moderately elevated Canadian highlands far on the north-east, instead of from the much higher mountains nearby on the west. The present altitude of the plains near the mountain base is 4,000 ft (1,200 m). The northern plains are interrupted by several small mountain areas. The Black Hills, chiefly in western South Dakota, are
9951-457: The same species of plants across years. Protein concentrations of the plants they eat tend to be highest in the spring and decline thereafter, reaching their lowest in the winter. In Yellowstone National Park, bison browsed willows and cottonwoods, not only in the winter when few other plants are available, but also in the summer. Bison are thought to migrate to optimize their diet, and will concentrate their feeding on recently burned areas due to
10058-565: The seaway had once occupied. During the Cenozoic era , specifically about 25 million years ago during the Miocene and Pliocene epochs, the continental climate became favorable to the evolution of grasslands. Existing forest biomes declined and grasslands became much more widespread. The grasslands provided a new niche for mammals, including many ungulates and glires , that switched from browsing diets to grazing diets. Traditionally,
10165-405: The south. Its altitude is 5,500 ft (1,700 m) at the highest western point, nearest the mountains whence its gravels were supplied. From there, it slopes southeastward at a decreasing rate, first about 12 ft (3.7 m), then about 7 ft/mi (1.3 m/km), to its eastern and southern borders, where it is 2,000 ft (610 m) in altitude. Like the High Plains farther north, it
10272-459: The southern section owes its smoothness to the deposition of imported gravels and sands upon a previously uneven surface by the action of aggrading rivers and their outgoing distributaries. The two sections are also alike in that residual eminences still here and there surmount the peneplain of the northern section, while the fluviatile plain of the central section completely buried the pre-existent relief. An exception to this statement must be made for
10379-416: The southwest, close to the mountains in southern Colorado, where some lava-capped mesas ( Mesa de Maya , Raton Mesa ) stand several thousand feet above the general plain level, and thus testify to the widespread erosion of this region before it was aggraded. The southern section of the Great Plains, between latitudes 35.5° and 25.5°, lies in western Texas , eastern New Mexico , and western Oklahoma . Like
10486-580: The species is secure. Genetically pure B. b. bison currently number only about 20,000, separated into fragmented herds—all of which require active conservation measures. The wood bison is on the endangered species list in Canada and is listed as threatened in the United States, though numerous attempts have been made by beefalo ranchers to have it entirely removed from the Endangered Species List . Although superficially similar, physical and behavioural differences exist between
10593-588: The spread of grasslands and the development of grazers have been strongly linked. However, an examination of mammalian teeth suggests that it is the open, gritty habitat and not the grass itself which is linked to diet changes in mammals, giving rise to the " grit, not grass " hypothesis. Paleontological finds in the area have yielded bones of mammoths , saber-toothed cats and other ancient animals, as well as dozens of other megafauna (large animals over 100 lb [45 kg]) – such as giant sloths , horses , mastodons , and American lion – that dominated
10700-560: The state of Montana , free-ranging bison on public land are legally shot, due to transmission of disease to cattle and damage to public property. In 2013, Montana legislative measures concerning the bison were proposed and passed, but opposed by Native American tribes as they impinged on sovereign tribal rights. Three such bills were vetoed by Steve Bullock , the governor of Montana. The bison's circumstances remain an issue of contention between Native American tribes and private landowners. Bison are ruminants , able to ferment cellulose in
10807-704: The steppe bison migrated across the Bering land bridge into North America, becoming ancestral to North American bison species, including the large Bison latifrons , and the smaller Bison antiquus , which became extinct at the end of the Late Pleistocene. Modern American bison are thought to have evolved from B. antiquus during the Late Pleistocene-Holocene transition via the intermediate form Bison occidentalis . The European bison, Bison bonasus, first appeared in Europe during
10914-602: The subdued forms of the Wichita Mountains in Oklahoma , the westernmost member of the Ouachita system. The term "Western Plains" is used to describe the ecoregion of the Great Plains, or alternatively the western portion of the Great Plains. In general, the Great Plains have a wide range of weather, with very cold and harsh winters and very hot and humid summers. Wind speeds are often very high, especially in winter. The 100th meridian roughly corresponds with
11021-464: The surface of the plain, but in well graded, maturely opened valleys, several hundred feet below the general level. A significant exception to the rule of mature valleys occurs, however, in the case of the Missouri, the largest river, which is broken by several falls on hard sandstones about 50 mi (80 km) east of the mountains. This peculiar feature is explained as the result of displacement of
11128-590: The table-land, called the Edwards Plateau , is more dissected than the rest, and falls off to the south in a frayed-out fault scarp. This scarp overlooks the coastal plain of the Rio Grande embayment . The central denuded area, east of the Llano, resembles the east-central section of the plains in exposing older rocks. Between these two similar areas, in the space limited by the Canadian and Red Rivers, rise
11235-461: The wild . While bison species have been traditionally classified in their own genus , modern genetics indicates that they are nested within the genus Bos , which includes, among others, cattle, yaks and gaur , being most closely related to yaks. Bison are sometimes bred with domestic cattle and produce offspring called beefalo , in North America, or żubroń , in Poland. The American bison and
11342-577: Was not generally used before the early 20th century. Nevin Fenneman's 1916 study Physiographic Subdivision of the United States brought the term Great Plains into more widespread usage. Before that the region was almost invariably called the High Plains, in contrast to the lower Prairie Plains of the Midwestern states . Today the term " High Plains " is used for a subregion of the Great Plains. The term still remains little-used in Canada compared to
11449-539: Was our bed, our blanket, our winter coat. It was our drum, throbbing through the night, alive, holy. Out of his skin we made our water bags. His flesh strengthened us, became flesh of our flesh. Not the smallest part of it was wasted. His stomach, a red-hot stone dropped into it, became our soup kettle. His horns were our spoons, the bones our knives, our women's awls and needles. Out of his sinews we made our bowstrings and thread. His ribs were fashioned into sleds for our children, his hoofs became rattles. His mighty skull, with
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