James F said:
Well, I can't top that. Not even with a Gorilla gorilla gorilla.
Think of what would happen if a buffaloing buffalo from Buffalo got into a romantic relationship with a water buffalo.
Tom G(ologist) · 1 October 2008
There is something so Pleistocene about this species, onc can not look at it without stirrings of some deep cultural memory. This and the muck ox are among the few species which make us feel primal still.
Tom G(ologist) · 1 October 2008
Or maybe I menat MUSK OX - a muck ox is the species uncle Billy Dumbski belongs to.
Flint · 1 October 2008
I visited these guys in Yellowstone a couple months back. Late in the day, with room reservations in Cody 80 miles to the east, I went to leave via the east entrance, and a fire cut me off. I was obliged to drive all the way around the park, 200 miles of slow park road. So I did a U-turn, started back...and a buffalo (maybe this one) wandered into the middle of the road and sat down. I was about 6 hours late to the motel...
Bison: 1) Much bigger than cow. 2) Much faster than people. 3) May not telegraph intent at any given moment. 4) You are no match.
These guys like to claim a zone about 25 meters or more in radius as their "personal space." Outside of that zone, which might vary due to circumstances the average shutter-pusher is unaware, you are merely a potential threat. You are tolerated because the bison knows you can't threaten or catch it from that distance. Inside of that zone you are a potential target and the animal may attack. Whether you are killed or merely put in traction, you should not be surprised in the least.
One thing that fascinates me about bison is that they can mate with domestic cattle and produce fertile offspring. Would someone more knowledgeable than I be willing to indulge us with a discussion of the phenomena of cross-genera hybrids?
MichaelB · 1 October 2008
If you do a search on "beefalo," you'll find that getting Bos taurus and Bison bison to mate and successfully produce viable and fertile offspring is not that easy. A number of ranchers tried it over a number of decades without success. It was accomplished by artificial insemination. First generation hybrids look like bison. They will mate and can be back-crossed (by AI again) with either parental species. A beefalo that is 7/16 bison looks like a Bos taurus (I was going to write "like a cow", but cow and bull are terms used for female and male bison too), a BIG Bos taurus. [What do we call one individual of Bos taurus without respect to gender? A cattle? Head of cattle? A beef? The language is deficient. It's that way because it evolved that way.]
MichaelB · 1 October 2008
That domestic cattle and bison are assigned to different genera is embarrassing. Since those two will hybridize it might be argued that Bos and Bison ought to be collapsed into a single genus to reflect the closeness implied by the hybridization. The "biological species" definition does require that interbreeding and production of fertile offspring be an event that can and does occur in nature. I don't know that that has ever been documented. There are now enough Bison genes in Bos populations (and vice versa?) through crosses from many generations of beefalo that any fertile interbreeding between contemporary cattle and bison would probably not qualify as natural events in the meaning of the definition.
Karen · 2 October 2008
Steaks! Roasts! Burgers!
shonny · 2 October 2008
Karen | October 2, 2008 12:16 AM | Reply
Steaks! Roasts! Burgers!
Karen, - well past your bedtime! You're dreaming about MOOSE!
Encountered some of these magnificent beasts (buffalo) up in Alaska years ago, and wasn't interested in if they were just curious as they came towards us with nothing but an open paddock between us.
But as far as I know moose are often much more aggressive.
Anders · 2 October 2008
MichaelB said:
That domestic cattle and bison are assigned to different genera is embarrassing. Since those two will hybridize it might be argued that Bos and Bison ought to be collapsed into a single genus to reflect the closeness implied by the hybridization.
How about a better picture? One that clearly shows their wings. ;-)
eric · 2 October 2008
Is the new PT focus on animal pictures setting us up for some sort of Celebrity Deathmatch? Meercat vs. Sheep, Rhinoceros vs. Buffalo? I think my money's on that Carolina Mantis.
eric
Kevin B · 2 October 2008
eric said:
Is the new PT focus on animal pictures setting us up for some sort of Celebrity Deathmatch? Meercat vs. Sheep, Rhinoceros vs. Buffalo? I think my money's on that Carolina Mantis.
eric
I thought that the white rhinos had something to do with the pink unicorns on the Luskin and immunology thread.
Eric Bloodaxe · 4 October 2008
I did hear that the bison became extinct in the USA, and the present animals are descended from stock imported from Canada.
Eric Bloodaxe said:
I did hear that the bison became extinct in the USA, and the present animals are descended from stock imported from Canada.
Two subspecies of bison did become extinct, the Eastern, and the Western, but the Plains buffalo survived in Wyoming: though, people often supplement their own herds with Woodlands buffalo (the Canadian subspecies).
20 Comments
phantomreader42 · 1 October 2008
Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo.
James F · 1 October 2008
Well, I can't top that. Not even with a Gorilla gorilla gorilla.
Stanton · 1 October 2008
Tom G(ologist) · 1 October 2008
There is something so Pleistocene about this species, onc can not look at it without stirrings of some deep cultural memory. This and the muck ox are among the few species which make us feel primal still.
Tom G(ologist) · 1 October 2008
Or maybe I menat MUSK OX - a muck ox is the species uncle Billy Dumbski belongs to.
Flint · 1 October 2008
I visited these guys in Yellowstone a couple months back. Late in the day, with room reservations in Cody 80 miles to the east, I went to leave via the east entrance, and a fire cut me off. I was obliged to drive all the way around the park, 200 miles of slow park road. So I did a U-turn, started back...and a buffalo (maybe this one) wandered into the middle of the road and sat down. I was about 6 hours late to the motel...
Wheels · 1 October 2008
Pizza pizza.
slang · 1 October 2008
[bart]Don't have a cow, man![/bart]
Crudely Wrott · 1 October 2008
@ James F:
How 'bout Homo Sapiens Sapiens?
Bison: 1) Much bigger than cow. 2) Much faster than people. 3) May not telegraph intent at any given moment. 4) You are no match.
These guys like to claim a zone about 25 meters or more in radius as their "personal space." Outside of that zone, which might vary due to circumstances the average shutter-pusher is unaware, you are merely a potential threat. You are tolerated because the bison knows you can't threaten or catch it from that distance. Inside of that zone you are a potential target and the animal may attack. Whether you are killed or merely put in traction, you should not be surprised in the least.
ndt · 1 October 2008
One thing that fascinates me about bison is that they can mate with domestic cattle and produce fertile offspring. Would someone more knowledgeable than I be willing to indulge us with a discussion of the phenomena of cross-genera hybrids?
MichaelB · 1 October 2008
If you do a search on "beefalo," you'll find that getting Bos taurus and Bison bison to mate and successfully produce viable and fertile offspring is not that easy. A number of ranchers tried it over a number of decades without success. It was accomplished by artificial insemination. First generation hybrids look like bison. They will mate and can be back-crossed (by AI again) with either parental species. A beefalo that is 7/16 bison looks like a Bos taurus (I was going to write "like a cow", but cow and bull are terms used for female and male bison too), a BIG Bos taurus. [What do we call one individual of Bos taurus without respect to gender? A cattle? Head of cattle? A beef? The language is deficient. It's that way because it evolved that way.]
MichaelB · 1 October 2008
That domestic cattle and bison are assigned to different genera is embarrassing. Since those two will hybridize it might be argued that Bos and Bison ought to be collapsed into a single genus to reflect the closeness implied by the hybridization. The "biological species" definition does require that interbreeding and production of fertile offspring be an event that can and does occur in nature. I don't know that that has ever been documented. There are now enough Bison genes in Bos populations (and vice versa?) through crosses from many generations of beefalo that any fertile interbreeding between contemporary cattle and bison would probably not qualify as natural events in the meaning of the definition.
Karen · 2 October 2008
Steaks! Roasts! Burgers!
shonny · 2 October 2008
Anders · 2 October 2008
Frank J · 2 October 2008
How about a better picture? One that clearly shows their wings. ;-)
eric · 2 October 2008
Is the new PT focus on animal pictures setting us up for some sort of Celebrity Deathmatch? Meercat vs. Sheep, Rhinoceros vs. Buffalo? I think my money's on that Carolina Mantis.
eric
Kevin B · 2 October 2008
Eric Bloodaxe · 4 October 2008
I did hear that the bison became extinct in the USA, and the present animals are descended from stock imported from Canada.
Stanton · 4 October 2008