Bison which Cope reported in 1878 (Amer. Naturalist, vol. XII, p. 189)
from Vanderburg County. Cope stated that John Collett, then State
geologist of Indiana, had discovered in a late Pleistocene deposit a
number of fossils. One of these was the ulno-radius of a _Bos_ (now to
be referred to _Bison_); another was a part of the mandible of the deer
_Odocoileus dolichopsis_. In 1884 (Geol. Surv. Indiana, vol XIV, p. 22),
Cope and Workman, inaccurately quoting Cope’s original description of
the deer _Odocoileus dolichopsis_, state that this deer and the bison
bones were found in Harrison County.
By consulting the Patoka Folio, No. 105, of the U. S. Geological Survey,
it will be seen that the northern part of Vanderburg County, four
townships, Nos. 4 and 5 south, ranges 10 and 11 west, are included. The
two northern townships are largely occupied by lacustrine deposits which
the geologists Fuller and Clapp regarded as having been laid down in
lakes produced by the damming of the drainage by the Illinoian
ice-sheet. Farther south, along the streams emptying into Pigeon Creek,
are wide areas which are covered by “fine silts, mainly of pre-Wisconsin
age, but including some of more recent age.” Whether or not the bison
bone and the jaw of _Odocoileus dolichopsis_ were found in any of these
deposits we are unfortunately left in the dark. It is most probable that
the bison and the deer lived there after the Illinoian stage and before
the Wisconsin.
2. _Vincennes, Knox County._—In the geological collection of Earlham
College, Richmond, Indiana, is preserved the greater part of the skull
of a bison which belonged to the species known as _Bison antiquus_. This
skull was first described and figured by Mr. W. G. Middleton and
Professor Joseph Moore (Proc. Ind. Acad. Sci. for 1899, pp. 178–181,
with a plate); afterwards by the writer (Geol. Surv. Indiana, vol.
XXXVI, p. 651, figs. 50, 51).
This fine skull is said to have been found in 1896 by a Mr. Brower, a
few miles from Vincennes, in a ditch, at a depth of 6 feet. Beyond this
the writer has not been able to learn. It would be of value to know
exactly where this place was, for then some conclusion might be reached
as to the geological age of the animal. The greater part of the county
is occupied by drift of Illinoian age, which appears in some places to
have on it some loess, and doubtless its surface has been much modified
since the materials were laid down. Even in this area there may be some
deposits of later times, interglacial and glacial.
According to Leverett’s glacial map of the region, there are along
Wabash River sand and gravel terraces of Wisconsin age; while along
White River there are said to be alluvial terraces older than Wisconsin.
At present one can arrive at a conclusion only from general knowledge.
The writer knows of no extinct bison (except one rather peculiar
species) which lived after the Wisconsin glacial stage. It appears most
probable that the skull at Earlham College came from some interglacial
deposits laid down about the middle of the Pleistocene, most likely
during the Sangamon stage.
The writer has been informed that another skull of a buffalo was for
years on exhibition in a business house conducted by Mr. T. L. Cheney,
but it seems to have disappeared. Mr. J. Gimble, of Vincennes, informs
the writer that it was found in the bed of Wabash River, near St.
Francisville, Illinois, about 10 miles below Vincennes.
ILLINOIS.
(Map 26.)
1. _Alton, Madison County._—In the U. S. National Museum are four teeth
of an undetermined species of _Bison_ found somewhere in the vicinity of
Alton. They are part of a collection made many years ago by Mr. William
McAdams, and afterwards passed into the hands of Professor O. C. Marsh,
then vertebrate palæontologist of the U. S. Geological Survey. It now
belongs to the U. S. National Museum. Nearly all of these fossils were
originally inclosed, wholly or partially, in nodules of fine sand,
cemented together with carbonate of calcium. Where the teeth are exposed
to view they are shown in a beautifully white condition; but the
remaining matrix is so hard and adheres so strongly that it is
practically impossible to remove it without greatly damaging the teeth.
A list of the species found at Alton will be given on page 339; also a
discussion of their geologic age.
The bison teeth consist of four upper molars and the hinder half or more
of the left hindermost molar. They were described by the writer (Proc.
U. S. Nat. Mus., vol. LVIII, p. 115). They are somewhat larger than any
belonging to the existing buffalo measured. They are larger, too, than
those of the commonest extinct species, _B. occidentalis_. It is
impossible to say at present to which extinct species they belonged. One
naturally thinks of _Bison latifrons_, the bearer of the immense horns,
but teeth have not yet been found associated with the horn-cores of that
species.
WISCONSIN.
(Map 26.)
1. _Coon Valley, Vernon County._—In the U. S. National Museum is a
well-fossilized tooth of a species of bison which was sent, in 1899, by
Rev. P. Moe, of Coon Valley. This tooth has been regarded as belonging
to _Bison bison_, but its fossilization seems to indicate that it
antedates the time of this species. It was found in section 26, township
14 north, range 6 west. This would be between the towns of Coon Valley
and Chaseburg. This locality lies within the “driftless area,” and it
would probably be difficult for the geologist, even on the ground, to
determine the age of the deposit, especially as no details were
furnished regarding the depth at which the tooth was found or the nature
of the inclosing materials.
MARYLAND.
(Map 26.)
1. _Chesapeake Beach, Calvert County._—Mr. William Palmer, of the U. S.
National Museum, collected at this place, in 1912, a fragment of a lower
last molar which apparently belonged to some species of _Bison_. A few
other remains have later been secured.
VIRGINIA.
(Map 26.)
1. _Saltville, Smyth County._—In the U. S. National Museum is an upper
second molar of a species of _Bison_, found at Saltville. It was sent in
1904 by Mr. H. D. Mount, of Saltville, with remains of _Elephas
primigenius_ and _Mammut americanum_. It is understood that all were
found in excavating for the water reservoir of the town. The bison tooth
is little worn, the height being still 46 mm. At the summit the crown is
34 mm. long, at the base 23 mm. long and 29 mm. wide. It resembles
closely that of _Bison bison_, but is slightly larger than the same
tooth in a large specimen of the existing species. The base of the skull
is present, with the occipital condyles. The latter are slightly larger
than in the specimen of _B. bison_ just mentioned. The species can not
be determined, but it probably was not _B. bison_. A list of the
associated species found at this locality is presented on page 352.
2. _Ivanhoe, Wythe County._—In 1869 (Proc. Amer. Philos. Soc., vol. XI,
p. 176), Professor Cope stated that he had found molar teeth of a bison
which he identified with doubt as _Bison antiquus_. The animal may quite
as well have belonged to any one of four or five other extinct species.
SOUTH CAROLINA.
(Map 26.)
1. _Charleston, Charleston County._—In 1860, Leidy (Holmes’s Post-Pl.
Foss. South Carolina, p. 110, plate XVII, figs. 15, 16) described
briefly and figured a tooth of a bovine animal found in the Pleistocene
of Ashley River. This he suspected belonged to _Bison latifrons_, but he
added that it presented nothing to distinguish it from that of the
existing bison. Numerous teeth resembling those of the domestic ox and
the bison have been found on Ashley River and have been regarded as
those of the domestic animal. (See letter of Agassiz to Professor F. S.
Holmes in the Introduction to Holmes’s work cited above.) While the
teeth of our cattle may have been picked up along the shores of Ashley
River, it is highly probable that the great majority of similar teeth
belonged to some extinct species of _Bison_. Probably only the discovery
of horn-cores will lead to the determination of the species. Leidy
probably used the name _Bison latifrons_ in a very wide sense. In the
collection at Amherst College the writer has seen an upper molar of a
bison, apparently the second molar, which is 38 mm. long on the outer
face. This length is too great for B. bison and the tooth probably
belongs to _B. latifrons_. It was probably found in the region about
Charleston.
In the Charleston Museum the writer has seen an anterior cannon-bone of
_Bison_ which had quite certainly been found somewhere about Charleston.
The following measurements were secured, and corresponding measurements
of _B. bison_ are added for comparison:
_Measurements of anterior cannon-bones of bisons, in millimeters._
┌─────────────────────────────────────────┬─────────────┬─────────────┐
│ │Fossil bison.│ B. bison. │
├─────────────────────────────────────────┼─────────────┼─────────────┤
│Length along the outer border │ 242│ 206│
│Width of upper articular surface │ 90│ │
│Side-to-side diameter at middle of length│ 64│ 52│
│Fore-and-aft diameter at middle of length│ 39│ 33│
│Width of lower articular surface │ 96│ 91│
└─────────────────────────────────────────┴─────────────┴─────────────┘
Other measurements may be found in J. A. Allen’s work, “The American
Bisons,” page 45. Apparently the bison which possessed the bone
described above had a height about one-eighth greater than the large
individual of the existing bison compared with it. Fossil remains found
elsewhere show that at least one large species of _Bison_ formerly
inhabited this country. _B. latifrons_ was a species with very large
horns, and its body may also have been larger than that of the existing
bison. To this species may have belonged the large cannon-bone described
above.
GEORGIA.
(Map 26.)
1. _Brunswick, Glynn County._—Remains of an undetermined species of
Bison were found at the time of excavating the Brunswick Canal, south of
Darien, in 1838–39. In a communication to the Academy of Natural
Sciences (Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila., vol. I, pp. 216–217), Mr. J.
Hamilton Couper gave an account of the geology of the locality and
mentioned the fact that remains of _Megatherium_, _Elephas primigenius_,
_Mastodon giganteus_, _Hippopotamus_, horse, _Bos_, and _Sus americana_
had been secured. As was later determined by Owen (Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci.
Phila., 1848, p. 93), the supposed hippopotamus incisor was a lower tusk
of a mastodon. _Sus americana_ was referred by Owen to his genus
_Harlanus_; but was afterwards found to belong to _Bison_. Owen (Jour.
Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila., ser. 2, vol. I, p. 20, plate VI) described and
furnished an excellent figure of the jaw. The jaw is now in the
collection of the Academy of Sciences at Philadelphia. Measurements show
that it is larger than the jaw of _Bison bison_, corresponding well with
the other bones of _Bison_ found at the same place. Leidy regarded it as
belonging to _B. latifrons_; but he used this name in a very wide sense.
In the Academy of Natural Sciences at Philadelphia is a part of the
right ramus of the lower jaw labeled “_Bison latifrons_, Darien canal,
Ga.” The teeth are badly worn. The jaw itself is larger than that of
_Bison bison_. The following measurements were taken:
_Measurements of bison jaws, in millimeters._
┌────────────────────────────────────────┬─────────────┬─────────────┐
│ │B. latifrons.│ B. bison. │
├────────────────────────────────────────┼─────────────┼─────────────┤
│Height of jaw just behind third molar │91 │83 │
│Thickness of jaw just behind third molar│36 │32.5 │
│Height of jaw in front of third molar │63 │52 │
│Thickness of jaw in front of third molar│31 │29 │
└────────────────────────────────────────┴─────────────┴─────────────┘
The jaw has the appearance of being much more massive than that of _B.
bison_.
In his work on the “Extinct Species of American Ox” (Smiths. Contrib.
Knowl., vol. V, p. 11), Leidy stated that Couper had presented to the
Academy in Philadelphia a tibia and a part of a humerus of _Bison_,
which bones he reported were larger than those of the existing American
bison, and he referred them to the species _Bison latifrons_. The tibia
was 456 mm. long and 87 mm. wide at the lower end; in a large _Bison
bison_ in the U. S. National Museum the tibia is 412 mm. long and 78 mm.
wide below.
Couper presented to the Boston Society of Natural History an atlas and a
metatarsus from the same locality. The atlas had a width of 247 mm.;
that of the existing bison just referred to is 220 mm. wide. The
metatarsal is said to have been 272 mm. long; that of the living bison
mentioned is 255 mm. A front cannon-bone at Harvard is 256 mm. long. In
a collection determined by J. W. Gidley (Bull. No. 26, Geol. Surv.
Georgia, p. 436) some bison remains, probably a tooth or teeth, were
referred with doubt to _Bison bison_. It is far more probable that they
belonged to an extinct species, and that _B. latifrons_.
2. _Skidaway Island, near Savannah, Chatham County._—On page 29 of
Joseph Habersham’s Memorandum, forming a part of William B. Hodgson’s
“Memoir on the Megatherium,” published in 1846, a portion of the humerus
of a _Bos_ is listed among the fossils found at Skidaway Island. This
bone is to be assigned to an undetermined species of _Bison_. The width
across the condyles is given as 4.5 inches, which is not greater than in
_B. bison_; but it is not probable that it was this species. Lyell
(Second Visit, etc., ed. 3, vol. I, p. 348) includes “a species of the
ox-tribe” among the fossils found at this locality.
For further remarks on the species of vertebrates found at Brunswick,
the reader may consult page 371, where also the geology of the locality
is discussed.
FLORIDA.
(Map 26.)
1. _Wade, Alachua County._—In the collection of the Florida Geological
Survey is an upper left last molar of _Bison_, found in the Buttgenbach
river mine, in Santa Fe River, 6 miles north from Wade. Although this
tooth was found in a phosphate mine, it certainly belongs to Pleistocene
time. The tooth is but little worn and is well fossilized. Its height is
45 mm., the length on the outer face 30 mm., the length at the middle of
the width 27 mm., the width at the base of the first lobe 24 mm.
There is another tooth in the collection, apparently the second upper
molar of the left side, from the same place and fossilized in the same
way. For a list of the species found at this locality and the writer’s
view regarding their geological age, the reader is referred to page 376.
2. _Pablo Beach, Duval County._—In the collection just mentioned there
are, from near Pablo Beach, three bones which apparently belonged to
some extinct species of _Bison_. No. 4444 is the left fibular bone; No.
4443 the left third cuneiform of the hinder foot; and No. 4442, a first
phalange of a hinder foot. These were found along the Inland Waterway
Canal, about 20 miles north of St. Augustine. The locality appears to be
about 5 miles south of Pablo Beach. At the same place have been found
_Mammut americanum_, _Elephas columbi_, and remains of a species of
_Odocoileus_.
3. _Ocala, Marion County._—Sellards (op. cit., p. 103) reported remains
of an undetermined species of _Bison_ found in a fissure in limestone
rock near Ocala.
4. _Dunnellon?, Marion County._—Sellards (op. cit., p. 104) presented a
list of Pleistocene vertebrates, found in or along Withlacoochee River,
but the exact localities are not given. Among these is an undetermined
species of _Bison_. Lucas (Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., vol. XXI, 1898, p.
767) stated that there is in the U. S. National Museum an imperfect
skull of _Bison latifrons_, obtained from Withlacoochee River. The
writer has not seen this skull. On page 376 the other species found here
are listed and their geological age discussed.
5. _Tampa, Manatee County._—In the Jarman collection, now in Vanderbilt
University, and made in the region about Tampa, is a right lower third
molar of _Bison_. It is well fossilized, but structurally does not
appear to differ from a tooth of the existing American bison. It
belonged, however, quite certainly to an extinct species. In the
American Museum of Natural History, New York, is a well-worn lower left
last molar of a bison, dredged up in Alafia River. With it were a
mastodon tooth, teeth of two or three extinct horses, and various
extinct tortoises. The reader is referred to page 379.
6. _Palmetto, Manatee County._—Mr. Ernest Leitzel, of Palmetto, sent
from that place to the U. S. National Museum some teeth for
determination. Teeth of the horses are described on page 379. With these
was a part of a lower right molar, possibly the last molar, of _Bison_.
From Palma Sola, on the south side of Manatee River and about 10 miles
below Palmetto, there has been sent to the U. S. National Museum, by Mr.
Charles T. Earle, the distal end of a metacarpal bone. This has a width
of 93 mm. It may have belonged to _Bison latifrons_. With it came teeth
of _Equus complicatus_, _E. littoralis_, and _E. leidyi_, a part of an
antler of a deer (_Odocoileus_), a part of a beak of a platanistid
porpoise, and a tooth of _Elephas columbi_. Probably the porpoise and
teeth of sharks came from Miocene deposits somewhere in the
neighborhood.
7. _Grove City, Charlotte County._—Leidy, in 1889 (Trans. Wagner Free
Inst., vol. II, p. 12), stated that Mr. Joseph Willcox had found, on
Rocky Creek, 30 miles north of Sarasota Bay, some remains of the great
extinct _Bison latifrons_. Sellards (8th Rep., pp. 103, 112) learned
that the locality was really Stump Pass, near Grove City. The horn-core
was lost by accident, but Leidy speaks of it as being huge. With it was
the proximal part of a radius whose upper end measured transversely 1.4
times that of an existing bison.
In a letter to the author, Mr. Willcox writes that, as nearly as he can
recollect, the diameter of the horn-core was about 5 or 6 inches.
8. _Vero, St. Lucie County._—Sellards (8th Rep., Florida Geol. Surv., p.
150) stated that an extinct bison is represented in the collection of
the Florida Geological Survey by a number of teeth, the distal end of a
humerus, and some foot-bones. They were supposed to have been derived
from stratum No. 2.
When in Vero in 1916, the writer secured a much-worn upper left premolar
3 of _Bison_ from the base of the muck layer No. 3. It is in some
respects different from the corresponding tooth of the existing bison.
For lists of the species found at Vero and for a discussion of the
geological age the reader may consult pages 381 to 383.
9. _Arcadia, De Soto County._—In the U. S. National Museum are some
teeth of _Bison_, obtained at or near Arcadia, on Peace Creek. In
general, these resemble closely the corresponding teeth of _B. bison_.
Leidy (Trans. Wagner Free Inst., vol. II, p. 22) mentioned a tooth and a
first phalanx of _Bison_ from Peace Creek. These are probably in the
collection of the Wagner Free Institute.
In the U. S. National Museum (No. 1989) is a hinder cannon-bone from
Arcadia. It resembles the corresponding bone in _B. bison_, but
doubtless belonged to a species now extinct. Lucas (Proc. U. S. Nat.
Mus., vol. XXI, p. 767) referred the teeth and the metacarpal to _B.
latifrons_.
In the same museum is a calcaneum labeled as collected on Peace Creek by
J. F. Le Barron. The reader may consult page 381 for further
information.
10. _Labelle, Lee County._—Remains of _Bison_ apparently have been found
at Labelle, or near there. Leidy, in Dall’s report (Bull. No. 84, U. S.
Geol. Surv., p. 129) referred this to _B. latifrons_. The bison,
_Elephas columbi_, _Equus fraternus_, and a mylodon were supposed to
have been buried in Pliocene deposits, but this opinion appears to be
erroneous. Sellards (8th Rep., p. 102) has shown that the elephant and
probably the horse were in Pleistocene marls. As shown on page 384, the
elephant is _Elephas imperator_.
11. _Palm Beach, Palm Beach County._—In his eighth report, Sellards (p.
105) stated that a femur of an undetermined species of _Bison_ was found
near this place, in the Palm Beach Drainage Canal. In the collection of
the Museum of Comparative Zoology, at Harvard University, are a front
cannon-bone, lacking the epiphyses, and the proximal end of a humerus.
The size of these indicates that they belong to _B. latifrons_. The
glenoid cavity measures 80 mm. by 60 mm. The neck of the humerus is 100
mm. wide.
ALABAMA.
(Map 26.)
1. _Newbern, Hale County._—In August 1914, there was received at the U.
S. National Museum, from Mr. J. W. White, of Newbern, a lower right last
molar of a species of bison reported found in a creek, and an incisor
tooth of a horse, which appear to be fossilized. The bison tooth had
just begun to wear. The fore-and-aft length of the crown is 37 mm. The
locality is somewhat outside of the range of _Bison bison_ as given by
Allen on his map (“American Bisons, Living and Extinct”). The fossil may
well belong to some extinct species and have lived in that region in
middle Pleistocene times.
MISSISSIPPI.
(Map 26.)
1. _Natchez, Adams County._—In Dr. M. W. Dickeson’s account of a
collection of bones and teeth made near Natchez (Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci.
Phila., 1846, p. 106) he included remains of the genus _Bos_. To-day
these would be referred to the genus _Bison_.
In 1854 (Smithson. Contrib. Knowl., vol. V, art. III, p. 9, plate II,
figs. 2–7), Leidy described and figured bovine teeth from Natchez, which
he referred to _Bison latifrons_. Two of these teeth had been found, as
Leidy stated, by M. W. Dickeson, in association with remains of
_Mastodon (Mammut), Equus_, _Ursus_, _Cervus (Odocoileus)_, _Megalonyx_,
and _Mylodon_. Three others had been presented by W. H. Huntington, who
discovered them in association with remains of _Mammut americanum_,
_Equus complicatus_, and _Felix atrox_. Three of the teeth were upper
molars, the others, lower molars. Leidy gave the measurements of most of
these. The following measurements are those of an upper second and an
upper third molar:
_Measurements of bovine teeth, in
millimeters._
┌────────────┬───────┬───────┬───────┐
│ Tooth. │Height.│Length.│Width. │
├────────────┼───────┼───────┼───────┤
│Second molar│ 67│ 37.5│ 27│
│Third molar │ 75│ 42.5│ 29│
└────────────┴───────┴───────┴───────┘
These teeth are considerably larger than those of _Bison bison_ and _B.
occidentalis_ (Geol. Surv. Iowa, vol. XXIII, p. 320).
KENTUCKY.
(Map 26.)
1. _Woolper Creek?, Boone County._—The type of _Bison latifrons_ is
usually regarded as having been found at Bigbone Lick, but Leidy (Jour.
Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila., vol. VII, p. 372) stated it had been found a
dozen miles or more north of Bigbone Lick, in the bed of a creek that
enters into the Ohio River. It seems probable that this creek is the one
named above.
2. _Bigbone Lick, Boone County._—It was at this place that was found the
horn-core and attached part of skull which forms the type of _Bison
antiquus_. It was a part of the Jefferson collection and was described
by Leidy (Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci., Phila., vol. VI, 1852, p. 117). Richard
Lydekker (Cat. Foss. Mamm. Brit. Mus., pt. 2, p. 27) wrote that there is
in that museum a fragment of a right mandible, probably belonging to
_Bison latifrons_. However, the identification is hardly to be relied
on. Shaler (Geol. Surv. Kentucky, n. s., vol. III, p. 197) reported the
finding of bones of _Bison latifrons_, but it is doubtful in what sense
he used this name; and he did not indicate how these bones differed from
those of other bisons. He probably had in mind _B. antiquus_. Hence the
presence of the species with the widely spread horns at Bigbone Lick is
doubtful.
A list of the species of mammals collected at this place will be found
on page 403.
FINDS OF BISON BISON IN THE PLEISTOCENE OF EASTERN NORTH AMERICA.
ONTARIO.
(Map 27.)
1. _North Bay, Nipissing County._—In the U. S. National Museum is a
horn-sheath, found at this place. It was sent by Dr. Charles E. Cook, of
Lockport, New York, who himself saw it thrown out of a ditch, about 5
feet deep, which was being made from the shore of the lake. The horn was
found at a distance of 600 feet from the lake and in front of the Hotel
Queen’s. It certainly belongs to the existing species, _Bison bison_.
Whether the presence of the horn at that spot is due to the former
existence of the American buffalo there or to its introduction by man it
is impossible to say at present.
MASSACHUSETTS.
(Map 27.)