20 THE AMERICAN BISONS. 
regarded as only the female of B. datifrons, although as late as 1873 he deemed 
the question as to the number of species of American fossil oxen as not sat- 
isfactorily settled.* 
Sir John Richardson, in 1854, in his report on the bison remains from 
Eschscholtz Bay, expressed himself as inclined to believe in a greater num- 
ber of fossil species of bison than previous writers had been willing to admit. 
He had convinced himself, he says, that in the collections from Eschscholtz 
Bay were “remains of one, and perhaps two, species of the bison type, 
related as closely to the American bison as to the aurochs.’ Again he says 
that some of the remains more closely resemble corresponding parts of the 
American bison than the aurochs, though differing decidedly from both, and 
inclines to the opinion that what he calls “ Bison priscus ?”’ together with the 
remains from Big-bone Lick, Dr. Leidy had described and referred doubtfully 
to Bison americanus, should be regarded as a distinct species and receive a 
new name. The remains from Big-bone Lick referred to by Richardson 
prove, however, to belong unquestionably to Bison americanus. The larger 
specimens from Eschscholtz Bay Richardson regarded as belonging to a 
species distinct from any that had been previously described, to which he 
gave the name Bison crassicornis. Most authors have since regarded these 
larger specimens as representing only the female of B. datifrons,—a view 
| | wholly untenable, as sufficiently shown in the preceding pages. 
| In 1854 Dr. Leidy recognized five species of bisons from America as more 
or less well established, namely: 1. Bison americanus (recent and_ fossil). 
2. Bison latifrons. 38. Bison priscus? Richardson. 4. Bison crassicornis Rich- 
ardson. 5. Bison antiquus Leidy. Later, however, as already noticed, he 
referred his own B. antiquus, and also B. crassicornis, to B. latifrons. In 1869 
he recognized Bison priscus as distinct from B. latifrons, referring to the for- 
mer the remains from Eschscholtz Bay, doubtfully referred by Richardson to 
B. priscus. In 1873, however, as already stated, he considered the question 
as to the number of species of American fossil bisons as still unsettled. 
All European writers of note have always regarded the American and Old 
World fossil bison remains as pertaining to one and the same species. 
Recent authorities, particularly Professor L. Riitimeyer and Dr. J. F. Brandt, 
as previously noticed, have regarded this fossil species as the immediate pro- 
genitor of the European aurochs and the American bison, Brandtt at the 
* Contr. to Ext. Vertebrates, Fauna, etc., p. 253. 
+ Zoogeos. und Paleont. Beitrige, pp. 101-152 (Verhandl. mineral. Gesells. St. Petersburg, I, 1865). 
