Steppe Wisent
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Extinct (6000 BCE)
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Bison priscus Bojanus, 1827 |
The Steppe Wisent (Bison priscus) was a steppe bison found on steppes throughout Europe, Central Asia, Beringia and North America during the Quaternary. It is assumed that they evolved somewhere in South Asia which would have them appearing at roughly the same time and region as the Aurochs with which its descendants are often confused.
The Steppe Wisent became extinct in the Late Pleistocene, as it was replaced in Europe by the Wisent and in America by the Bison.
Steppe Wisent were over two metres high and probably resembled the Bison. The tips of the horns were a metre apart, the horns themselves being over half a metre long.
Steppe Wisent occasionally appear in cave art.