American bison
Bos bison Linnaeus, 1758
Status not recordedmammals
The American bison (Bos bison) is a species in the family Bovidae, order Artiodactyla. Recorded adults weigh 579.3 kg to 731.4 kg and live up to 27 years.
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Quick facts about the American bison
- Weight
- 579.3 kg – 731.4 kgsrc for Weight
- Length
- Not recorded
- Lifespan
- 27 yearssrc for Lifespan
- Diet
- Herbivoresrc for Diet
- Longest recorded lifespan
- 33.5 years
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- Not recorded
- Gestation
- 274 dayssrc for Gestation
- Young per litter or clutch
- 1src for Young per litter or clutch
- Age at maturity
- 2.25 years – 2.5 yearssrc for Age at maturity
- Litters or clutches a year
- 1src for Litters or clutches a year
- Active
- Day and night (cathemeral)src for Active
- Lifestyle
- Terrestrialsrc for Lifestyle
- Conservation status
- Not recorded
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
Where does the American bison live?
Not recorded
Is the American bison endangered?
No conservation assessment is recorded for this species in our sources. That is not the same as being safe: it has not been matched to an assessment.
How is the American bison classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classMammalia
- orderArtiodactyla
- familyBovidae
- genusBos
- SpeciesBos bison Linnaeus, 1758
Synonyms Bison americanus, Bison americanus, Bison americanus pennsylvanicus, Bison bison, Bison bison athabascae, Bison bison bison, Bison bison septemtrionalis, Bison sylvestris
Other names and names in other languages (60)
- American BonassusEnglish
- American buffaloEnglish
- BisonEnglish
- BisonteEnglish
- BuffaloEnglish
- BuffeEnglish
- BuffleEnglish
- North American bisonEnglish
- Plains bisonEnglish
- White bisonEnglish
- White buffaloEnglish
- Wood bisonEnglish
- Amerikaanse BisonAfrikaans
- Amerikaanse BuffelAfrikaans
- بيسون أمريكيArabic
- Bisont americanoAragonese
- Амерыканскі бізонBelarusian
- Bisó americàCatalan
- ᏴᎾᏌCherokee
- Hotoa'eCheyenne
- Bizon americkýCzech
- BüffelGerman
- Amerikanischer BisonGerman
- IndianerbüffelGerman
- Αμερικανικός ΒίσωναςGreek
- Bisonte americanoSpanish
- Amerikako bisonteBasque
- biisoniFinnish
- Bison AméricainFrench
- ביזון אמריקאיHebrew
- Mosayruhop
- amerikai bölényHungarian
- ՏափացուլArmenian
- Ամերիկյան բիզոնArmenian
- Bisonte americanInterlingua
- アメリカバイソンJapanese
- БизонKazakh
- 버팔로Korean
- 아메리카들소Korean
- Amerikas bizonsLatvian
- YanasaMuscogee
- YvnvsvMuscogee
- AyáníNavajo
- Amerikansk BisonNorwegian Bokmål
- BizonDutch
- Amerikaanse BizonDutch
- Mashkode BizhikiOjibwa
- Mashkode-bizhikiOjibwa
- Bizon amerykańskiPolish
- Bisão-americanoPortuguese
- Bisonte-americanoPortuguese
- Американский бизонRussian
- Bizoni amerikanAlbanian
- ไบซันอเมริกันThai
- Amerika BizonuTurkish
- Американський бізонUkrainian
- Бізон американськийUkrainian
- Bò bison châu MỹVietnamese
- 犎牛Chinese
- 美洲野牛Chinese
Relatives of the American bison
Other species in the same genus Bos.
Aurochs
Bos primigenius
Gaur
Bos gaurus
Wild yak
Bos mutus
Yak
Bos grunniens
Banteng
Bos javanicus
Kouprey
Bos sauveli
CompareAmerican bison vs AurochsAmerican bison vs GaurAmerican bison vs Wild yakAmerican bison vs Yak
Common questions
Answered only where our data holds the answer.
How big is the American bison?
An adult American bison weighs 579.3 kg – 731.4 kg, according to values recorded on Wikidata.
How long does the American bison live?
The American bison has a recorded lifespan of 27 years.
How long is the American bison pregnant?
The recorded gestation period is 274 days.
What kind of animal is the American bison?
The American bison (Bos bison) belongs to the family Bovidae in the order Artiodactyla.
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
- An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles · CC0 1.0 · E096-269
Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1 - Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - EltonTraits 1.0: species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals · CC0 1.0 · 1.0
Wilman, H., Belmaker, J., Simpson, J., de la Rosa, C., Rivadeneira, M.M. & Jetz, W. (2014) EltonTraits 1.0: Species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals. Ecology 95: 2027. https://doi.org/10.1890/13-1917.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3559887.v1 - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service).
Embed a card for this animal on your own site
Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). American bison (Bos bison). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/american-bison
“American bison (Bos bison).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/american-bison.
@misc{american_bison_2026,
title = {American bison (Bos bison)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/american-bison},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}