Steppe bison
The steppe bison,[1] or steppe wisent (Bison priscus), is an extinct bison. It lived on steppes in Europe, Central Asia, Beringia, and North America during the Quaternary. It is believed that it evolved somewhere in South Asia, That would mean it appeared at about the same time and region as the aurochs, with which its descendants are sometimes confused.
| Steppe bison | |
|---|---|
| |
| "Blue Babe", a mummified specimen from Alaska | |
Scientific classification 
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| Unrecognized taxon (fix): | Bison |
| Species: | †B. priscus
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| Binomial name | |
| Bison priscus Bojanus, 1827
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The steppe wisent became extinct in the Pleistocene. It was replaced in Europe by the modern wisent species. It was replaced in America by Bison latifrons, then later Bison antiquus), and finally the modern American bison.[2]
Steppe wisent occasionally appear in cave painting. They are in the famous Cave of Altamira and Lascaux. They have also been found in naturally ice-preserved form.[2][3]
Blue Babe
Blue Babe is the name of a mummified male steppe bison which was discovered north of Fairbanks in July 1979. It is called that because the creature is coated with vivanite.
Meanwhile, in 1984, scientists cut up a portion of the neck. The piece was simmered in stock and vegetables and made into a stew. It was described as having a strong Pleistocene aroma.[3]
Steppe Bison Media
Skeleton of a steppe bison
Bison priscus
Cave art of bison at Lascaux cave, France
"Bison licking insect bite", a well known French Paleolithic carving of a bison made of reindeer antler
Bison priscus skeleton at the Mammoth Museum in the Canton of Zürich, Switzerland
References
- ↑ Steppe Bison – Yukon Beringia Interpretive Centre Archived 2010-12-12 at the Wayback Machine. Beringia.com. Retrieved on 2013-05-31.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Verkaar E.L.C.; et al. (2004). "Maternal and paternal lineages in cross-breeding bovine species. Has Wisent a hybrid origin?". Molecular Biology and Evolution. 21 (7): 1165–70. doi:10.1093/molbev/msh064. PMID 14739241.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Dale Guthrie, R (1989). Frozen fauna of the Mammoth steppe: the story of Blue Babe. University of Chicago Press. ISBN 9780226311234.