Bison fossil map
Where fossils of Bison have been found, shown on the Earth as it looked about 0 million years ago and on today’s map.
Dots are fossil collections recorded in the Paleobiology Database. The “then” view moves today’s fossil sites back to their positions 0 million years ago (the time slice nearest the median age of the fossils) using the Merdith et al. (2021) plate model; positions are approximate. Open on the timeline map →
| Group | Early mammals |
|---|---|
| Lived | 7.246 million years ago to the present (Messinian to Holocene) |
| Periods | Neogene, Quaternary |
| Family | Bovidae |
| Named by | Hamilton-Smith 1827 |
| Fossil records | 644 occurrences at 266 locations (PBDB) |
| Found in | United States, Germany, Mexico, Canada, Italy, Greece, Spain, Russia, Romania, France … |
| Rock formations | txn:42742, Palos Verdes Sand, Platanochori, Cromer Forest Bed, Floral, American Falls Lake Bed E |
About Bison
A bison (pl.: bison) is a large bovine in the subgenus Bison (from Greek, meaning 'wild ox') within the tribe Bovini. Two extant and numerous extinct species are recognised.
Of the two surviving species, the American bison, B. bison, found only in North America, is the more numerous. Although colloquially referred to as a buffalo in the United States and Canada, it is more closely related to yaks and cattle than to the true buffalo. The North American species is composed of two subspecies, the Plains bison, B. b. bison, and the generally more northern wood bison, B. b. athabascae. A third subspecies, the eastern bison (B. b. pennsylvanicus) is no longer considered a valid taxon, being a junior synonym of B. b. bison. Historical references to "woods bison" or "wood bison" from the Eastern United States refer to this synonym animal (and to their eastern woodland habitat), not to B. b. athabascae, which was not found in the region. Its European kind B. bonasus or wisent —also 'zubr' or colloquially 'European buffalo'— is found in Europe and the Caucasus, reintroduced after being extinct in the wild.
Text in “About” is quoted from the Wikipedia article Bison (revision 1379563021), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0; introduction excerpted verbatim, formatting removed. Ages, family, authority and fossil records: Paleobiology Database, accessed 23 October 2026. Ages are those of the rock layers the fossils were found in. Wikidata: Q18099.
