Steppe bison
| Steppe bison | ||||||||||||
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Skeleton of a steppe bison in the Mammoth Museum . |
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| Temporal occurrence | ||||||||||||
| middle Pleistocene to Holocene | ||||||||||||
| 0.7 million years to 9,000 years | ||||||||||||
| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Bos priscus | ||||||||||||
| Bojanus , 1827 |
The steppe bison ( Bos priscus ) is an extinct species of bison . It is the ancestor of the American bison and the European bison . During the last glacial period in the Pleistocene , this wild cattle was also widespread in Europe until it disappeared 11,700 years ago. The most recent finds so far are from 8800 BC (from Siberia). The species differed from the surviving representatives of the genus , among other things, by its longer horns.
Morphology and appearance
The appearance of the steppe bison was probably very similar to that of the other bison species. However, he differed in longer horns and a generally larger stature and reached about 2 meters shoulder height. Weight estimates range from 700 to 800 kg. The bulls were probably more robustly built than the cows. As with other bison, the shoulder region was pronounced and the neck and head had the longest hair. Cave paintings show steppe bison with a reddish-dark brown fur, similar to that of the other bison species. The horns are comparatively long and thick, and bent obliquely upwards and forwards. The horn tips are mostly oriented slightly backwards. The largest measured distance between the horns of a steppe bison is around 120 cm.
Steppe bison are documented by numerous well-preserved skeletons or skeletal elements. In addition, some specimens with preserved soft tissue were found. The best known and best preserved specimen is the " Blue Babe ", recovered near Fairbanks , Alaska , and is dated to around 36,000 years BP . In 2007, another mummified steppe bison carcass was found near Tsiigehtchic, Canada .
According to mitochondrial DNA , the steppe bison was more closely related to the American bison than to the slimmer bison . Recent studies confirm that the steppe bison is the direct ancestor of the American bison and dominated the landscape in Europe, especially in the warmer summers, while the bison was created by crossing female aurochs with the steppe bison and predominantly dominated the colder times, so it was in the The dominance has changed several times over the last 20,000 years.
distribution and habitat
The distribution area of the steppe bison extended in the cold ages over the ice-free parts of Europe , Asia and North America . As a result, it was a Holarctic species. In Europe, the cold-time faunal complexes and warm-time faunal complexes each replaced. During the warm periods, the steppe bison was largely replaced by other, warmth-preferring wild cattle, such as the aurochs . But it also occurred occasionally in these climatic phases, as shown by the Thuringian travertine deposits near Weimar and Bilzingsleben . The habitat of the steppe bison was the so-called mammoth steppe , the biome as well as the woolly mammoth , woolly rhinoceros , wild horse , the Saiga antelope contained and other large animals. The steppe bison was probably one of the most common animals of the mammoth steppe in some regions and roamed in large herds. Finds of this species are common in North America, with an estimated 80% of all fossils near Fairbanks representing the steppe bison.
Cave painting
Although steppe bison are often depicted in cave paintings such as those in the Altamira Caves , the Lascaux Caves or the Niaux Caves , it is unclear whether this species was used by humans as game. The scientists also noticed differences in the representation in cave paintings, as some images show long-horned animals with a strong back hump, while others show short-horned animals with less hunched back. Mostly, however, this was interpreted as artistic freedom. After detailed investigations in connection with genetic analyzes of fossil bones, it is now assumed that the long-horned bison on the illustrations represent the steppe bison 22,000 to 18,000 years ago, while the short-horned bison may represent a hybrid form of the steppe bison and the aurochs (in the genetic analyzes referred to as CladeX ) and the more recent representations dominate. This goes hand in hand with isotope studies , according to which the steppe bison tended to prefer the warmer climates , whereas the animals of the CladeX line appeared during the cooler phases of the last glacial period. According to the scientists involved, the animals of the CladeX line represent the direct ancestors of the European bison.
Evolution and extinction
The steppe bison probably developed around 700,000 years ago in the Middle Pleistocene , possibly emerging from smaller forms such as Bos schoetensacki , and reached its maximum expansion during the last glacial period, the Würm glacial period .
The steppe bison fell victim to the Quaternary extinction wave at the beginning of the Holocene around 9,000 years ago. According to the overkill hypothesis , humans are responsible for the extinction of at least some species that disappeared at that time.
Web links
- Steppe bison on beringia.com
Individual evidence
- ↑ MacPhee et al. 2002 Journal of Archaeological Science 29, 2002, pp. 1017-1042, doi: 10.1006 / jasc.2001.080
- ↑ Bunzel-Drüke, Drüke, Vierhaus: Reflections on forest, people and megafauna.
- ↑ a b Steppe bison ( Memento of the original dated December 12, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. on beringia.com.
- ↑ Jordi Agusti, Mauricio Anton: Mammoths, Sabertooths and Homidids: 65 Million Years of Mammalian Evolution in Europe. 2002, ISBN 0-231-11640-3 .
- Jump up ↑ a b c Zazula, MacKay, Andrews, Shapiro, Letts, Brock: A late Pleistocene steppe bison ( Bison priscus ) partial carcass from Tsiigehtchic, Northwest Territories, Canada . 2009.
- ↑ Edward LC Verkaar, Isaäc J. Nijman, Maurice Beeke, Eline Hanekamp, John A. Lenstra: Maternal and paternal lineages in cross-breeding bovine species. Has wisent a hybrid origin? In: Molecular Biology and Evolution . tape 21 , no. 7 , 2004, p. 1165-1170 , doi : 10.1093 / molbev / msh064 , PMID 14739241 .
- ↑ Ralf-Dietrich Kahlke: The sequence of plio / Pleistocene mammalian faunas in Thuringia (Central Germany). In: Cranium. Vol. 12, No. 1, 1995, pp. 5-18.
- ^ Julien Soubrier, et al .: Early cave art and ancient DNA record the origin of European bison . In: Nature Communications . tape 7 , no. 1 , 2016, p. 13158 , doi : 10.1038 / ncomms13158 , PMID 27754477 .
- ↑ Ralf-Dietrich Kahlke: The origins, development and distribution history of the upper-pleistozönen Mammuthus-Coelodonta fauna complex in Eurasia (large mammals). In: Treatises of the Senckenbergische Naturforschenden Gesellschaft. 546, Frankfurt am Main 1994.
