Evolution of the Bison

The Evolution of Bison Name University Course Instructor Date Bison are giant mammals widely known to have had profound impact the North American region's ecology and cultural history. These animals come from Bovidae, encompassing domestic cattle, antelope, and goats. It is believed that the first cousin of Bison was established in Asia two million years ago in the Pleistocene Epoch (Rawleigh et al., 2024). The genus Bison emerged approximately 1 million years ago, leading to the development of two primary species: the European Bison (Bison bonasus) and the American Bison (Bison bison), which belong to different subgenera. American Bison reached North America through the Bering Land Bridge, a land connection from Asia to North America when the sea water was relatively low. As the American Bison adapted to its new environment, it diversified into two subspecies: plains and wood bison. However, the plain Bison and the wood bison bear differing characteristics due to geographical differences. The plains bison adapted well to the expanding grasslands of the United States and Canada; the wood bison resided primarily in the northern part of Canada because of the timberlines of the region (Hecker et al., 2024). Molecular analysis of the North American Bison subspecies has established that the species is closely related to the domesticated cattle, which were derived from the aurochs. This link shares the evolutionary process of how Bison has helped them to exist and change to various situations. There are several adaptations that the Bison h...