Genome data on the extinct Bison schoetensacki establish it as a sister species of the extant European bison (Bison bonasus).

ABSTRACT:

Background

The European bison (Bison bonasus), now found in Europe and the Caucasus, has been proposed to originate either from the extinct steppe/extant American bison lineage or from the extinct Bison schoetensacki lineage. Bison schoetensacki remains are documented in Eurasian Middle Pleistocene sites, but their presence in Upper Pleistocene sites has been questioned. Despite extensive genetic studies carried out on the steppe and European bison, no remains from the fossil record morphologically identified as Bison schoetensacki has been analyzed up to now.

Results

In this paper, we analyzed a 36,000-year-old Bison schoetensaki bone sample from the Siréjol cave (France) and a cave hyena coprolite (fossilized feces) found in a nearby cave and containing large amounts of Bo

SUBMITTER: Palacio P 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5303235 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature