The American Bison (Bison bison) is a North American species of bison, also commonly known as the American buffalo. “Buffalo” is somewhat of a misnomer for this animal, as it is only distantly related to either of the two “true buffaloes”, the Asian buffalo (or “water buffalo”) and the African buffalo. However, “bison” is a Greek word meaning ox-like animal, while “buffalo” originated with the French fur trappers who called these massive beasts boeufs, meaning ox or bullock. So both names, “bison” and “buffalo,” have a similar meaning. The American Bison is more closely related to the Wisent or European Buffalo.
The bison once inhabited the grasslands of North America and Asia in massive herds, ranging from the Great Slave Lake in Canada’s far north, through the United States to Mexico in the south, and from eastern Oregon almost to the Atlantic Ocean, taking its subspecies into account. Its two subspecies are the Plains Bison (Bison bison bison), distinguished by its smaller size and more rounded hump, and the Wood Bison (Bison bison athabascae), distinguished by its larger size and taller square hump. Wood Bison are one of the largest species of cattle in the world, surpassed in size only by the massive Asian gaur and Wild Asian Water Buffalo, both of which are found mainly in India and Southeast Asia. It is also the largest extant land animal in North America.