American Bison - Species Profile
Conservation • Description • Habitat • Ecology • Distribution • Taxonomy
Conservation Status |
|
||||
| IUCN Red List | NT - Near Threatened |
||||
| NatureServe | N4 - Apparently Secure SX - Presumed Extirpated |
||||
| Minnesota | not listed |
||||
Description
Size
Total height: 5′ to 6′
Total length: 10′ to 12′
Weight: 800 to 2,000 lbs.
Sign
Similar Species
No similar species
Habitat
Historically: grasslands, meadows, woodlands, and woodland openings.
Currently: none, considered extirpated in the wild
Ecology
Behavior
Lifespan
15 years in the wild, 25 years in captivity
Life Cycle
Food
Grasses
Distribution |
||
|
Sources Biodiversity occurrence data published by: Minnesota Biodiversity Atlas (accessed through the Minnesota Biodiversity Atlas Portal, bellatlas.umn.edu, 12/7/2025). Hazard, Evan B. 1982. The Mammals of Minnesota. University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis, Minnesota. 280 pp. There are no wild populations of bison in Minnesota. The counties in dark green show where there are captive bison herds. The counties in light green lack modern records but show where bison bones have been found in the state. |
|
| 12/7/2025 | ||
Occurrence |
||
Reintroduced. Captive herds. |
||
Taxonomy
Class
Subclass
Theria
Infraclass
Placentalia (Placental Mammals)
Magnorder
Boreoeutheria
Superorder
Laurasiatheria (Ungulates, Carnivorans, and Allies)
Order
Artiodactyla (Even-toed Ungulates and Cetaceans)
Suborder
Ruminantia (Ruminants)
Infraorder
Pecora
Superfamily
Bovoidea
Family
Bovidae (Bovids)
Subfamily
Bovinae (Bovines)
Tribe
Bovini (Cattle and Bison)
Genus
Bos
Subgenus
Bison
Genus
The scientific name of the American Bison is currently a subject of taxonomic revision. Bison bison is the scientific name used in most historical literature and remains the common designation across the globe. Modern genetic (DNA) and cladistic analysis shows that the genus Bison is phylogenetically embedded within the genus Bos (the genus that includes domestic cattle). To maintain the strict principle of monophyly in classification, the species was formally moved to the genus Bos.
MinnesotaSeasons.com follows the classification of the Mammal Diversity Database (MDD), maintained by the American Society of Mammalogists (ASM). The MDD currently lists the species as Bos bison.
Subordinate Taxa
Plains Bison (Bos bison bison) 
Wood Bison (Bos bison athabascae)
Synonyms
Bison americanus
Bison americanus pennsylvanicus
Bison bison
Bison bison athabasacae
Bison bison athabascae
Bison bison bison
Bison bison septemtrionalis
Bison sylvestris
Bisons bison
Bos americanus
Common Names
American Bison
Bison
