NORTH AMERICA AND THE WEST INDIES 337 



Wildlife Refuge. At last accounts the herd was in excellent 

 condition and had increased to 90 animals (Dufresne, 1942). 



THE AMERICAN BISON 



Although evidence is accumulating that at least one large 

 species of extinct bison was contemporaneous with early man 

 in North America, only one species was found on the continent 

 at the time of its discovery by Europeans (see Meserve and 

 Barbour, 1932). This species is closely related to the Old 

 World bison, Bison bonasus, but differs in numerous details, 

 as in the larger chest, smaller pelvus and shorter tail. In 

 early days the "buffalo," as it is almost universally called, was 

 found in great numbers over a vast range in this continent, 

 but with the westward expansion of settlements it became an 

 object of exploitation on a tremendous scale, so that literally 

 millions were killed, and it was wiped out in the East and later 

 over much of its western range. The story of this decimation 

 has been many times told, but more especially by J. A. Allen 

 (1876a, 1876b, 1877), Hornaday (1889), and recently by 

 Garretson (1938). Although .attempts have been made to 

 distinguish several local races, the characters of these are for 

 the most part imperfectly known, and the respective ranges 

 undefined. The northern form, or wood bison, however, 

 constitutes a fairly well marked race. 



PLAINS BISON; "BUFFALO" 

 BISON BISON BISON (Linnaeus) 



[Bos] bison Linnaeus, Systema Naturae, ed. 10, vol. 1, p. 72, 1758 (Mexico). 



Bos americanus Gmelin, Linnaeus's Systema Naturae, ed. 13, vol. 1, pt. 1, p. 294, 

 1788. 



Bison bison hanningtoni FIGGINS, Proc. Colorado Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 12, no. 4, p. 

 30, pis. 8, 9, Dec. 5, 1933 ("Head of Rock Creek, northeast South Park, Park 

 County, Colorado"). Doubtfully distinct. 



Bison bison septentrionalis Figgins, op. cit., p. 28, pi. 7, Dec. 5, 1933 ("Six miles north- 

 east of Palmer, Nebraska"). Doubtfully distinct. 



FIGS.: Allen, J. A., 1876a, pis. 5, 6, 9, 10, 12, fig. 1-6 (skulls and teeth); Garretson, 

 1938, pis. facing title page and p. 5. 



EASTERN BISON 



BISON BISON PENNSYLVANICUS Shoemaker 



Bison americanus pennsylvanicus H. W. Shoemaker, A Pennsylvania Bison Hunt 

 (Middleburg, Pa.), p. 9, 1915 ("Pennsylvania"). 



