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Genes of an Icon: Bison

In the DNA of bison, scientists find clues to the animals’ past—and keys to safeguarding their future

Long before ships sailed to North America’s shores, before shopping malls and parking lots blanketed its plains, mahogany waves of muscle, horn, and hide thundered from sea to shining sea. American Bison (Bison bison)—also known as buffalo—have roamed the continent for some 200,000 years, since their ancestors crossed the Bering land bridge from Siberia into Alaska. When humans made the same trek between 15,000 and 20,000 years ago, bison became central to Indigenous people’s way of living: They ate the animal’s meat and fat, and made clothing and shelter from its hide, tools from its bones, rope from its hair, glue from its hooves. Later, the Europeans who arrived on the continent’s shores slaughtered almost all the animals, in order to break the will of Native Americans and clear land for railroads. Later still, people of both Indigenous and European descent began to work together to bring bison back. You can’t tell the story of people in North America without also telling the story of bison, and vice versa. Today, bison number about 530,000, scattered in distinct herds across the continent. Their recovery is one of the 20th century’s great conservation success stories, with the majestic beasts evoking the American wilderness as they stalk reserves such as Yellowstone National Park. Bison are “doing OK” right now, says Steve Yang, a biomedical scientist at the University of Saskatchewan’s (USask’s) Western College of Veterinary Medicine who is part of a major bison genetics project called Bison Integrated Genomics (BIG)...

Read more: https://www.science.org/content/article/dna-reveals-hidden-past-north-america-s-bison-and-keys-their-future

#bison #bovidae #conservation #genetics #north america #animals #nature #mammal #artiodactyl #ungulate #science

Patagonian Hog-nosed Skunk (Conepatus humboldtii), family Mephitidae, found in southern Argentina and Chile

photograph by Paul B. Jones

#hog nosed skunk #skunk #conepatus #mephitidae #mammal #animals #nature #south america

Whale of a Whale May Be Biggest Animal Ever

The animal—described from 39-million-year-old Peruvian fossils—could weigh as much as 340 tons

A massive extinct whale may have just stolen the title of biggest animal ever. According to a paper published today in Nature, the creature—dubbed Perucetus colossus—could have weighed as much as 340 tons—nearly 75% more than the largest blue whales, the all-time record holder. That estimate comes from a 39-million-year-old partial skeleton unearthed in Peru. Even if the calculation turns out to be an overestimate, the animal was clearly huge, experts tell The Washington Post. The rotund giant would likely have been too sluggish to chase small but abundant critters like krill, the researchers say. Instead, its manateelike proportions (above in artist’s reconstruction) suggest it fed on the sea floor—though without a skull to examine, whether it was similarly vegetarian or preferred a more carnivorous diet remains a mystery.

via: https://www.science.org/content/article/whale-whale-may-be-biggest-animal-ever

#Perucetus colossus #Perucetus #whale #cetacean #ocean #paleontology #fossils #animals #nature

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Guess who’s never beating the “cutie patootie” allegations? It’s the raccoon dog (Nyctereutes procyonoides)! It can be found in parts of northern Europe and Asia. In the colder areas of its range, this species hibernates through the winter. To prepare for this long rest, individuals gorge themselves with food—including insects, fruit, and crustaceans. A raccoon dog can gain up to 50 percent of its weight during this process, and at its peak, an individual can weigh up to 22 lbs (10 kg). Photo: sduben, iStock