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"bison"

2007-06-05 20:17:15 · 17 answers · asked by jony 1 in Education & Reference Words & Wordplay

17 answers

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=define%3A+bison

"Any of several large humped bovids having shaggy manes and large heads and short horns."

2007-06-05 20:19:57 · answer #1 · answered by p37ry 5 · 2 0

Bison (sometimes referred to as the Prairie Cow) is a taxonomic group containing six species of large even-toed ungulates within the subfamily Bovinae. Only two of these species still exist: the American Bison (B. bison) and the European Bison, or wisent (B. bonasus).

In American Western culture, the bison is commonly referred to as "buffalo"; however, this is a misnomer. Though both bison and buffalo belong to the same family, Bovidae, the term 'buffalo' properly applies only to the Asian Water Buffalo and African Buffalo. The gaur, a large, thick-coated ox found in Asia, is also known as the Indian Bison, although it is in the genus Bos and thus not a true bison.

The American and European bison are the largest terrestrial mammals in North America and Europe. Like their cattle relatives, bison are nomadic grazers and travel in herds, except for the non-dominant bulls, which travel alone or in small groups during most of the year. American bison are known for living in the Great Plains. Both species were hunted close to extinction during the 19th and 20th centuries but have since rebounded, although the European bison is still endangered.

Unlike the Asian Water Buffalo, the bison has never really been domesticated, although it does appear on farms occasionally. It is raised now mostly on large ranches in the United States and Canada for meat. Wild herds are found in Yellowstone, Utah's Antelope Island, and northern central Canada (see Wood Bison).

Bison live to be about 20 years old and are born without their trademark "hump" or horns. With the development of their horns, they become mature at two to three years of age, although the males continue to grow slowly to about age seven. Adult bulls express a high degree of dominance during mating season.

Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Artiodactyla
Family: Bovidae
Subfamily: Bovinae
Genus: Bison

2007-06-05 20:22:35 · answer #2 · answered by Brij Bhushan A 2 · 0 0

'Buffalo' is the popular name often used to describe North American bison; however, this is a misnomer. In fact, buffalo are distinctly different animals from bison. Although both bison and buffalo belong to the same family, Bovidae, true 'buffalo' are native only to Africa and Asia.

Historians are undecided on the origin of buffalo as the name for the North American bison, although some speculate that early European explorers likened the unknown bison to the more familiar African and Asian buffalo. A related view is that the word ‘buffalo’ is derived from terms in other languages used by explorers to describe the unfamiliar beast, including, bisonte, buffes, buffelo, buffles, and buffalo. These terms are similar to bufle and buffe, which were commonly used to refer to any animal that provided good hide for buff leather. Despite the misnomer, the term ‘buffalo’ has been used interchangeably with ‘bison’ since early explorers first discovered the North American species, and has become entrenched as a colloquialism in North American culture and language.

2007-06-05 20:20:37 · answer #3 · answered by Jean C 3 · 0 0

The difference between a buffalo and a bison is you can't wash you hands in a buffalo

2007-06-06 02:56:15 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0 0

A bison is better known as a buffalo

2007-06-05 20:20:13 · answer #5 · answered by Zac D 2 · 0 1

A Son that appears in home either once in two months or twice in a month.

(probably the rest of the time he is real bison else where)

2007-06-06 08:16:43 · answer #6 · answered by Radhakrishna( prrkrishna) 7 · 0 1

bison is a cement particle board, available in many thicknesses like 6 mm 8, 10, 12 mm etc.
size approx. 6'X3' this is a waterproof board and used for construction of walls etc. and known as Bison Board

2007-06-05 20:33:55 · answer #7 · answered by umesh v 2 · 0 1

buffalo family the american buffalo is really a bison a better example is the water buffalo of asia

2007-06-05 20:24:31 · answer #8 · answered by havenjohnny 6 · 1 0

Buffalo

2007-06-05 20:29:23 · answer #9 · answered by GS 3 · 0 0

Some animals in the cow family. Do looks like buffalo.

2007-06-05 20:41:45 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0 1

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