Description

Bison antiquus; Pleistocene; Central FL
Bison antiquus, the antique bison or ancient bison, is an extinct species of bison that lived in Late Pleistocene North America until around 10,000 years ago. Bison antiquus was one of the most common large herbivores in Late Pleistocene North America. It is a direct ancestor of the living American bison.
The first described remains of Bison antiquus were collected at Big Bone Lick, Kentucky in Pleistocene deposits in the 1850s and only consisted of a fragmentary posterior skull and a nearly complete horn core. The fossil was briefly described by Joseph Leidy in 1852. Although the original fossils were fragmentary, a complete skull of an old male was discovered in southern California and were described as a new species, B. californicus, by Samuel Rhoads in 1897, but the species is considered synonymous with B. antiquus.  Since the 19th century, several well-preserved specimens of B. antiquus have been discovered in many parts of the United States, Canada, and southern Mexico.