LATE PLEISTOCENE AIRPORT LANE FOSSIL SITE, LA GRANDE, NE OREGON.

Giant Bison (Bison cf. B. antiquus )

Abstract

 The seven articulated bison vertebrae (T-13 to L-5), an articulated left radius/ulna and carpals, and the proximal part of a left calcaneus found at the Airport Lane fossil site came from a large male that was similar in size to Bison latifrons from Idaho Falls, Idaho, and the Costeau Pit in California .  Comparison with long-legged Bison antiquus fossils from Ayer Pond on Orcas Island in Washington and from Woodburn High School in Oregon suggests that the Airport Lane bison is B. antiquus, not B. latifrons.   The bison skeleton was lying on its right side.  The bison bones found to date include ones commonly left behind at butchering sites such as the Hudson-Meng site in Nebraska.  Fragments of the bison vertebrae yielded an AMS radiocarbon date of 12,950 ± 50 14C years BP.

Introduction

Bison first appeared during the late Pliocene in central Asia, with other occurrences in northern India and northern China.  They spread quickly across the Arctic, into Alaska, and probably into central North America during the Illinoisan glacial phase ~500-125 thousand years ago.  Leidy (1852) was the first to refer North American bison to the genus Bison.  Based on his measurements of the horn cores and other bones of specimens from Big Bone Lick, Kentucky, and other sites, Leidy (1852) recognized two North American fossil bison species, the smaller-horned form Bison antiquus and the larger-horned Bison latifrons.  Bison antiquus inhabited relatively open woodland and savanna habitats.  Bison latifrons is the largest North American fossil bison.  It lived mostly to the north of B. antiquus and was a browser that inhabited more heavily wooded and forested environments.  Two other North American fossil species, Bison priscus and Bison alaskaensis, are Eurasian forms that dispersed into North America over the Bering land bridge during low sea level periods during the Pleistocene (McDonald, 1981).

                  Bison latifrons probably went extinct during the late Wisconsin, but Bison antiquus survived into the Holocene.  Two subspecies of Bison antiquus are recognized: Bison antiquus antiquus and Bison antiquus occidentalis.  Bison antiquus occidentalis is considered to be the transitional phase leading from Bison antiquus to the modern Bison bison during the Holocene.  The dynamic environments of late Quaternary North America and Eurasia allowed substantial shifts in population numbers and the distributions of Holarctic bison, at times leading to local interbreeding of contemporary species (McDonald, 1981).

                  The first Oregon fossil bison was found by a trapper named Ewing Young, who arrived at Fort Vancouver on the Columbia River in 1834.  Another fossil bison was found at Oregon City in 1923 and in 1924 John Horner recovered the skull and horns of a Bison antiquus occidentalis on Lick Creek in Wallowa County.  The head of a Bison antiquus was recovered near Medford in 1938 (Orr and Orr, 2009).  The skeletal remains of another Bison antiquus were found in ~12,200 year-old Missoula Flood deposits on the campus of Woodburn High School in 2009 (Ellingson, 2009).  McDonald (1981) lists a Bison antiquus from Walla Walla, Washington.  These previous findings suggest that the bison found at the Airport Lane fossil site may be Bison antiquus.

The Airport Lane Fossil Site Bison

The bison bones from the Airport Lane fossil site include a radius/ulna; six carpals; two thoracic vertebrae; five lumbar vertebrae; and the proximal part of a calcaneus (Figure 1).

Figure 1. Bison vertebrae and leg bones that were found at the Airport Lane fossil site (colored black).

Diagram modified from Kenady and others (2011).

Fragments of the Bison vertebrae from the Airport Lane fossil site were sent to Beta Analytic Inc. for AMS radiocarbon dating.  The results (Beta–302403) are:

                  Conventional radiocarbon age:                    12,950 ± 50 14C years BP (before 1950)

                  Calibrated age:                                                          15,260 BP = 13,310 BC

This age is approximately 2,000 14C years older than the 10,640 ± 340 14C years BP date obtained for bioapatite from the mammoth tusks from the Airport Lane fossil site.

Radius

The box of bone fragments brought back to Eastern Oregon University from the Airport Lane site in January 2010 contained most of the fragments of a Bison left radius with part of the distal end of the ulna fused to it (Figure 2).  The reconstructed bone was measured (Figure 3) following the specifications of Miller (1971).  All of the measurements (Table 1) fall in the range of Bison latifrons and are larger than those of Bison antiquus antiquus and Bison antiquus occidentalis.  The greatest length, least anteroposterior diameter of the diaphysis, and the least transverse width of the diaphysis fall in the range of Bison latifrons males listed in Table 1.

Todd (1987, 1982) introduced a system of detailed measurements of bison bones at bison kill sites such as the Horne II, Wyoming,r and Lipscomb, Texas, sites that have allowed male and female bones to be recognized.  Comparison of the ratio of the greatest length (RD 2) of the Airport Lane bison radius vs. the greatest breadth of the proximal end (RD 3) and the ratio of the greatest breadth of the proximal articular surface (RD 4) of the Airport Lane bison radius vs. the greatest depth of the proximal end (RD 9) with values from other bison fossil sites (Figures 4 and 5) suggests that the Airport Lane bison radii has dimensions very similar to those of male Bison latifrons radii from the Costeau Pit in California but may instead belong to an early long-legged group of Bison antiquus like the ones found at Ayer Pond in Washington and the Woodburn High School site in Oregon.  Plots of RD 2, RD 3, RD 4, and RD 9 versus time (Figures 5 and 6) show similar trends and suggest an overall decrease in size of the radii of Bison antiquus from this early group of bison to the younger Bison antiquus found at the Horner II and Lipscomb sites.

Figure 2. Airport Lane Fossil Site Bison cf. B. latifrons left radius/ulna:  A. Lateral view; B. Medial view; C. Anterior (cranial) view; and D. Posterior (caudal) view.

Figure 3. Measurements made on the Airport Lane Fossil Site bison radius (following Miller, 1971): 1. Greatest length; 2. Greatest proximal transverse diameter; 3. Least anteroposterior width of diaphysis; 4. Least transverse width of diaphysis; and 5. Greatest distal transverse diameter.

Table 1. Measurements of Bison radii

Figure 4.  Graph showing how the ratio of the greatest length of the Airport Lane bison radius vs. the greatest breadth of the proximal end compares with fossil bison from other localities.  Note that the Airport Lane radius is closest in size to B. latifrons from the Costeau Pit, California, but has the same greatest breadth of the proximal end as the Woodburn B. antiquus and a greatest length smaller than the Ayer Pond B. antiquus.

Figure 5.  Graph showing how the ratio of the greatest breadth of the proximal articular surface of the Airport Lane bison radius vs. the greatest depth of the proximal end compares with fossil bison from other localities.  Note that the Airport Lane radius is closest in size to B. antiquus from the Lipscomb site in Texas.

Figure 6.  Variations in the sizes of the greatest length of the proximal end (RD 2) and the greatest breadth of the proximal end (RD 3) for fossil bison radii from selected sites.  The graph suggests that the Airport Lane bison may be part of a group of long-legged early B. antiquus including the bison at Ayer Pond, Washington, and Woodburn, Oregon.

Figure 7.  Variations in the sizes of the greatest breadth of the proximal articular surfaces (RD 4) and the greatest depth of the proximal end (RD 9) of fossil bison radii from selected sites.  Note the progressive decrease in the dimensions of these bison radii with time.

Carpals

The bison fossils at the Airport Lane fossil site include a whole left ulnar carpal and fragments of the left radial carpal, left intermediate carpal, second/third carpal, and the accessory carpal (Figures 8, 9).  The proximal (dorsal) surfaces of the first, second, and third carpals match the distal end of the left radius.  This suggests that the radius and carpals were articulated before being struck by the bulldozer and are from the same animal.

Figure 8. Relationship of various carpals to the radius and metacarpal (from Ford, 1990): 1. Radial; 2. Intermediate; 3. Ulnar; 4. Second/Third; 5. Fourth; and 6. Accessory.

Figure 9. Bison carpals from the Airport Lane Fossil Site:  A. Left radial carpal fragment (lateral view); B. Another fragment of the left radial carpal (posterior view); C. Left radial carpal fragment (proximal view); D. Left intermediate carpal fragment (lateral view); E. Left intermediate carpal fragment (distal view); F. Left intermediate carpal fragment (proximal view); G. Left intermediate carpal fragment (medial view); H. Left ulnar carpal (lateral view); I. Left ulnar carpal (posterior view); J. Left accessory carpal fragment (lateral view); K. Left second/third carpal fragment (proximal view); L. Left second/third carpal fragment (lateral view); M. Left fourth carpal (proximal view); N. Left fourth carpal fragment (anterior view).

Vertebrae

 The bison vertebrae found at the Airport Lane fossil site (Figures 10, 11) include two thoracic vertebrae (T-13 and T-14) and all the lumbar vertebrae (L-1 to L-5).  The right sides of the vertebrae were sheared off by the bulldozer.  This indicates that the bison skeleton was lying on its left side. 

                  Measurements of the length of the centrum and the height and breadth of the cranial (anterior) and caudal (posterior) articulating surfaces of each vertebra (Figure 12) were made according to the specifications of Miller (1971) and von den Driesch (1976).  it is difficult to compare the dimensions of the thoracic vertebrae from the Airport Lane fossil site with measurements of vertebrae from other fossil sites because they were made on other vertebrae besides T-13 and T-14 (Table 2).  The length of the centrum and breadth of the caudal articular surface of the fifth lumbar vertebra (L-5) fall within the range of bison from the Costeau Pit of California (Table 3), which Miller (1971) tentatively identified as Bison latifrons.  The dimensions of the fifth lumbar vertebra from the Airport Lane fossil site are greater than those of the fifth lumbar vertebra of male Bison antiquus from Rancho La Brea, California, reported by Miller (1971).  The height of the caudal articular surface of the fifth lumbar vertebra from the Airport Lane fossil site is greater than both Bison latifrons? from the Costeau Pit and the male Bison antiquus from Rancho La Brea.

Figure 10.  Left lateral view of articulated Bison thoracic and lumbar vertebrae (T-13 to L-5).  The right sides of the vertebrae were sheared off by the bulldozer, suggesting that the bison was lying on its left side.

Figure 11. Bison vertebrae from the Airport Lane Fossil Site:  A. 13th thoracic vertebra, cranial view; B. 13th thoracic vertebra, left lateral view; C. 13th thoracic vertebra, caudal view; D. 14th thoracic vertebra, cranial view; E. 14th thoracic vertebra, left lateral view; F. 14th thoracic vertebra, caudal view; G. 1st lumbar vertebra, cranial view; H. 1st lumbar vertebra, left lateral view; I. 1st lumbar vertebra, caudal view; J. 1st lumbar vertebra, right lateral view; K. 1st lumbar vertebra, dorsal view.

Figure 11, cont.: Bison vertebrae from the Airport Lane Fossil Site, cont.:  L. 2nd lumbar vertebra, cranial view; M. 2nd lumbar vertebra, left lateral view; N. 2nd lumbar vertebra, caudal view; O. 3rd lumbar vertebra, cranial view; P. 3rd lumbar vertebra, left lateral view; Q. 3rd lumbar vertebra, caudal view; R. 4th lumbar vertebra, cranial view; S. 4th lumbar vertebra, left lateral view; T. 4th lumbar vertebra, caudal view; U. 5th lumbar vertebra, cranial view; V. 5th lumbar vertebra, left lateral view; and W. 5th lumbar vertebra, caudal view.

Figure 12.  Measurements made on the Airport Lane Fossil Site bison vertebrae using the specifications of Miller (1971) and von den Driesch (1976).  Numbers correspond to measurements in Tables 2 and 3.  A. Cranial view; B. Left lateral view; and C. Caudal view.

Table 2. Measurements of Bison thoracic vertebrae (mm)

Table 3. Measurements of Bison lumbar vertebrae (mm)

 Calcaneus

Part of the calcaneal tuber from the proximal end of the left calcaneus of a bison was also found at the Airport Lane fossil site (Figure 13).  This is the only part of the rear leg that was recovered at the site.

Figure 13. Part of the left calcaneal tuber, the proximal part of the calcaneus, of the Airport Lane Fossil Site bison.  A. Lateral view; B. Cranial  view; and C. Medial view.

Discussion

The bison radius found at the Airport Lane fossil site is similar in size to Bison latifrons radii but no B. latifrons fossils have been reported in Oregon.  The nearest sites where Bison latifrons fossils have been found are the American Falls Reservoir and other sites in southeast Idaho and the MacArthur site in Shasta County in northern California (McDonald, 1981). The age of the Airport Lane bison is very young compared to the ages of Bison latifrons specimens from Costeau Pit, California (42 ka), the American Falls Reservoir site, Idaho (>32-21 ka) and Rancho La Brea (in the earlier part of 30-13 ka) cited by McDonald (1981).  Bison latifrons was large-bodied, long-horned, long-legged, and long-lived, which allowed it to compete successfully in open forest and woodland environments where food resources were limited, much as moose do in today's woodlands.  Bison latifrons is thought to have gone extinct at the height of the late Wisconsin glaciations with little or no influence of human hunting (McDonald, 1981).  The AMS radiocarbon date for the Airport Lane fossil site bison places it very close or after this time of extinction.

It seems likely that the bison from the Airport Lane fossil site was part of a population of long-legged group of Bison antiquus in the Pacific Northwest that included the bison found at the Ayer Pond site on Orcas Island, Washington and at the Woodburn site in Oregon.  The large size of the Airport Lane bison could also be a result of it being part of a small refugial population of B. antiquus isolated in the Grande Ronde Valley during the late Wisconsin glaciations that adapted to the vegetation and environmental conditions in the Grande Ronde Valley at this time by becoming larger.  Finding a bison skull with horn cores at the Airport Lane fossil site would help confirm which species the Airport Lane fossil site bison belongs to.

The bison bones found at the Airport Lane site to date include bones commonly left behind at butchering sites such as the Hudson-Meng site in Nebraska described by Agenbroad (1978).  Further investigation of the Airport Lane site is needed to determine whether this is an artifact of the way the bones were uncovered by the earth scraper or if this is a true reflection of the nature of the bones at the site.

Conclusions

The articulated bison vertebrae (T-13 to L-5), articulated right radius/ulna and carpals, and the proximal end of the calcaneus found at the Airport Lane fossil site probably came from the same individual.  The skeleton was lying on its right side when it was hit by the bulldozer.  The dimensions of the radius and fifth lumbar vertebrae suggest that the bison was a large male Bison antiquus .  The dimensions of the radius are similar in size to B. latifrons but it is more likely that the Airport Lane bison belongs to B. antiquus based on its similarity to the B. antiquus found at Ayer Pond on Orcas Island in Washington and at the Woodburn High School site in Washington.  If so, this suggests that a long-legged form of B. antiquus may have been common in the Pacific Northwest as the Pinedale stage of the Wisconsin glaciation came to an end.

It is difficult to confirm which species the Airport Lane fossil site bison belongs to without horn cores, so it is classified as:

                                                      Class                       Mammalia

                                                      Order                       Perissodactyla

                                                      Family                      Bovidae

                                                      Genus                       Bison Smith, 1827

                                                      Species                     Bison cf. B. antiquus antiquus Leidy, 1852

                  There is the possibility that the bison from the Airport Lane fossil site was a Bison antiquus/Bison latifrons hybrid or part of a refugial population of Bison antiquus that adapted to conditions in the Grande Ronde Valley 12,950 ± 50 14C years BP near the peak of the late Wisconsin (Pinedale) glaciations, the time when McDonald (1981) suggests that Bison latifrons went extinct.  The types of bison bones found at the Airport lane suggest that butchering may have occurred at the Airport Lane site, but further investigation is needed to investigate this hypothesis.

Acknowledgments

Special thanks go to Michael C. Wilson of Douglas College, Canada, for recognizing the bison carpal bones; for hinting that the vertebrae might be from a bison, not a short-faced bear as we originally thought; and for providing measurements of the Ayes Pond bison.  Dave Ellingson provided measurements of the radius from the Woodburn High School bison.

References Cited

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