Bison antiquus Bison antiquus (ancient bison) is an extinct species of bison that lived in North America from the Late Pleistocene to the Early Holocene (approximately 250,000–10,000 years ago). It was the ancestor of the modern American bison (Bison bison). It was significantly larger than modern American bison, standing up to 7.5 feet tall at the shoulder and weighing as much as 3,500 pounds. Its horns could span nearly three feet from tip to tip. Fossils of Bison antiquus are abundant, particularly at the La Brea Tar Pits, throughout the Great Plains, and across the American West. It was a common herbivore that grazed on grasses and other vegetation. Paleolithic peoples in the Americas frequently hunted Bison antiquus. The original Folsom point discovery, found in association with a Bison antiquus skeleton (the Skelton itself originally found by George McJunkin) helped confirm that humans were not only present in Ice Age North America but were also hunting megafauna. While human hunting likely contributed to its decline, the species’ extinction was probably caused by a combination of factors, including climate change and ecological competition with the smaller, more numerous modern bison. The Bison antiquus remains featured in this video were excavated at the Willow Springs Site in southern Wyoming by the Office of the Wyoming State Archaeologist. Excavation: @wyomingstatearchaeologist Bison art: @ettore.mazza #anthropology #archaeology #GreatPlains #extinctanimals
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