Steppe bison

Long ago, big bison lived on the earth.

These animals lived in large groups. They had big horns that curved up.

The bison ate many things. They ate grass and small plants. They lived on a very large land.

Large cats and humans hunted them. The bison are gone now. We can see their bones in the ground.

Can you imagine a big bison?

The steppe bison was a large animal that lived long ago.

These bison lived on the mammoth steppe. This was a huge area of land. It stretched from Spain all the way to Canada.

Steppe bison looked like the bison we see today. They had a hump on their backs. Their horns were special. The bony parts inside the horns grew out to the sides. Then they curved up toward the tips.

These horns were often larger than modern bison horns.

These animals were mixed feeders. This means they ate many kinds of plants. They ate grass and small shrubs. Some even ate plants like willow and birch. They likely lived in herds.

Many things hunted the steppe bison. Cave lions and cave hyenas were predators. Early humans also hunted them. People even drew them on cave walls.

The steppe bison died out a long time ago. This happened because of climate change and hunting. They were part of a time when many large animals disappeared.

The steppe bison was a huge animal from a long time ago.

It lived on the mammoth steppe, a massive area of land. This land stretched from Spain all the way to Canada. It also reached from China to the Arctic islands. This environment was very productive for living things. It supported many plants, herbivores, and predators. The steppe bison was an important part of this world.

These bison had a very specific way of living. They likely lived together in large herds. They were mixed feeders, which means they ate many plant types. Instead of only eating grass, they ate shrubs too. Scientists found remains of willow and birch in their stomachs. They also ate plants like marsh-marigold and cottongrass. Some bison even ate alkali grasses.

We know a lot about them from old discoveries. A naturalist named Ludwig Heinrich Bojanus first named them in 1825. He used several specimens to describe the species. Later, in 1918, a man named Hilzheimer picked one skull to be the main example. This skull came from the Po Valley in northern Italy. It is now kept at the University of Pavia.

Many different facts help us picture these animals. Adult bulls could be very tall and heavy. They had a hump on their backs above their front legs. Their horns grew out to the sides and curved up. These horn cores were often larger than modern bison horns. One famous find was a mummy called Blue Babe. This male bison was found in Alaska in 1979.

Steppe bison were part of a world shared with humans. Neanderthals hunted them in Europe. Modern humans also ate them during the Last Glacial Period. Early artists even drew them on cave walls. You can see these drawings in the Lascaux cave in France.

Eventually, the species died out. This happened because of climate change and human hunting. They disappeared alongside many other large animals.

The steppe bison, known scientifically as *Bison priscus*, was a massive extinct species of bison.

These animals lived from the Middle Pleistocene through the Holocene epoch. They were a vital part of the mammoth steppe, a highly productive biome. This environment stretched from Spain to Canada and from China to the Arctic islands. The mammoth steppe supported many different plants, herbivores, and predators. The steppe bison played a major role in this vast ecosystem.

Scientists study the steppe bison through its complex evolutionary history. The species first appeared in eastern Eurasia during the mid-Middle Pleistocene. It eventually moved westward into Western Europe. Around 195,000 to 135,000 years ago, they entered northwest North America via Beringia. This area included modern-day Alaska and the Yukon. Later, they moved into central North America around 130,000 years ago. This movement happened after the Laurentide Ice Sheet began to melt. One population eventually evolved into the long-horned bison, *Bison latifrons*. This lineage later led to *Bison antiquus*, the ancestor of modern American bison.

Researchers divide the steppe bison into several different subspecies. These subspecies are organized by time and region. *Bison priscus gigas* lived during the early Middle Pleistocene in Siberia and Eastern Europe. *Bison priscus priscus* lived during the late Middle Pleistocene from Western Europe to Siberia. The Late Pleistocene subspecies is known as *Bison priscus mediator*. Some scientists also suggest a North American subspecies called *Bison priscus alaskensis*. This subspecies ranged from Alaska down to Texas. However, its official taxonomic status is still a subject of debate among experts.

We know much about their appearance from fossilized remains. Adult bulls were very tall and heavy. Like modern bison, they had a hump above their front legs. Their skulls are unique because of their horn cores, which are the bony parts of the horns. These cores projected sideways and curved upward. The size of these cores changed between subspecies. *Bison priscus gigas* had very wide horn cores. These grew smaller in later subspecies like *B. p. mediator*. Even so, their horns were generally larger than those of living bison.

Dietary studies reveal how these animals survived in their environment. Analysis of dental microwear suggests they were mixed feeders. This means they ate both grasses and browse, which are woody plants. For example, DNA from a frozen mummy in the Kolyma Lowland showed they ate forbs and graminoids. They also ate plants like larch, willow, birch, and alder. Some populations in Ukraine ate about 37% C4 plants. Their diet was varied and changed based on their local area.

Steppe bison shared their world with many dangerous predators. Cave hyenas were likely predators, as their dens often contain bison remains. Cave lions also hunted them. We know this because bite marks were found on a famous specimen named "Blue Babe." This male bison was found in Alaska in 1979. It was a mummified carcass covered in a blue mineral called vivianite.

Humans also interacted with them. Neanderthals hunted them in Europe during the Middle Paleolithic. Modern humans also hunted them for food. Early humans even created beautiful cave art depicting them.

You can see these drawings in the Lascaux and Chauvet caves in France.

Ultimately, the steppe bison went extinct during the Late Quaternary extinction event. Their numbers shrank at the end of the Pleistocene. They disappeared from Western Europe around 12,000 to 10,000 years ago. They survived longer in Siberia and parts of North America. A bison skeleton in the Yukon was dated to about 3,450 BCE. Another find in Siberia was dated to around 4,500 years ago. However, some scientists doubt fossil records older than 8,700 years in Eurasia. Most experts believe climate change and human hunting caused their decline. A 2022 study suggests they might have survived in small northern refugia if humans had not hunted them.