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THE AMERICA]^ BISONS 



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istic of our plains^ will soon be known only in history^ and are well worthy 

 of consultation by any one interested in the subjects lie there delineates. 

 Audubon's illustrations are faithful likenesses^ and the scenes and figui^es 



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iven in Schoolcraft's work may also be examined with profit ; the most 

 accurate figures, however, are those given by Cuvier and Geoffroy. 



Fossil Remains. — The remains of the American bison in a fossil or ^semi- 

 fossil condition have been found sparingly over a wide area, but no instance 

 is at present known of their discovery beyond the known limits of its rano-e 



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at the time of the earliest explorations of the continent. In the National 



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Museum at Washington are semifossil remains from Colorado, collected by 

 Major Powell, and from Kansas, collected by Dr. Hayden. I have found a 

 fossil tooth of this species in Central Iowa, and have received from Mr. 

 Orestes H. St. John a fossil astragalus from the banks of the Big Blue Eiver 

 in Kansas. Professor Wyman has reported its remains from the mounds of 

 the Lead Region in Wisconsin and Iowa ; Dr. Leidy has figured a tooth from 

 the Lead crevices of Jo Daviess County, Illinois, and also from the Ashley 

 River, South Carolina.* Professor Baird has reported the existence of its 

 fossil remains in the caverns of Central Pennsylvania. The alleged occur- 

 rence of its remains at Gardner, Maine, proves, however, to be 

 erroneous, as will be shown further on. f 



Its bones have also been found in large quantities about the Salt Licks of 

 the Ohio Valley, especially at Big-bone Lick, Kentucky. The accumulations 

 at the last-named locality date back to remote times, since in the lower 



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strata of these bone-deposits are found the bones of Mastodon americanus, 

 Megalonyx^ Elephas, an extinct species of Eqims^ and an extinct species of 

 Ovibos^ but, according to Professor Shaler, the bones of Bison americanns 

 occur only in the more superficial strata, which are composed almost solely 

 of the remains of this animal. These remains differ, as before stated 

 (p. 33), in no appreciable respect, in form or in size, from those of the 

 recent bison of the Plains. | The only difference of note consists in the 

 very different manner of the wearing of the molar teeth. In the recent 





* In both instances doubtfully referred by Dr. Leidy to Biso7i latifrons. 

 f See tlie chapter on the Geograpliical Distribution of the American Bison. 



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X A skull from Big-bone Lick (Ko. 2047, M. C. Z.) presents the greatest convexity of the forehead 

 (see Plate Y, figs. 5, 6) of any I have met with, but does not differ in other respects from ordinary exam- 

 ples. On the other hand, other Big-bone Lick skulls exhibit the usual degree of flatness. ISTo 2050 has 

 unusually lai'ge horn-cores, but is not in other respects distinguishable from average recent examples. 



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