"horses to ride and to carry packs or pull travois. The people fully incorporated the use of horses into their societies and expanded their territories. They used horses to carry goods for exchange with neighboring tribes, to hunt game, especially bison, and to conduct wars and horse raids. The 16th century saw the first contacts between Native Americans in what was to become the United States and European explorers and settlers. One of the first major contacts, in what would be called the American Deep South, occurred when the conquistador Juan Ponce de León landed in La Florida in April"
"and the wood bison (""B. b. athabascae"")—the larger of the two and having a taller, square hump. Furthermore, the plains bison has been suggested to consist of a northern plains (""B. b. montanae"") and a southern plains (""B. b. bison"") subspecies, bringing the total to three. However, this is generally not supported. The wood bison is one of the largest wild species of bovid in the world, surpassed by only the Asian gaur and wild water buffalo. It is the largest extant land animal in the Americas. The American bison is the national mammal of the United States. The term"
"one of the largest and oldest clonal colonies on Earth. Among animals, the largest species are all marine mammals, specifically whales. The blue whale is believed to be the largest animal to have ever lived. The largest land animal classification is also dominated by mammals, with the African bush elephant being the most massive of these. The largest single-stem tree by wood volume and mass is the giant sequoia (""Sequoiadendron giganteum""), native to Sierra Nevada and California; it typically grows to a height of and in diameter. Multiple-stem trees such as banyan can be enormous. Thimmamma Marrimanu in India spreads"
"California condor The California condor (""Gymnogyps californianus"") is a New World vulture, the largest North American land bird. This condor became extinct in the wild in 1987 (all remaining wild individuals were captured), but the species has since been reintroduced to northern Arizona and southern Utah (including the Grand Canyon area and Zion National Park), the coastal mountains of central and southern California, and northern Baja California. Although other fossil members are known, it is the only surviving member of the genus ""Gymnogyps"". The species is listed by the IUCN as critically endangered. The plumage is black with patches of"
"recapture. As of 2016, Louisiana black bears are no longer endangered. The American alligator is the official state reptile of Louisiana. Perhaps the most iconic of Louisiana wetlands' animals, the American alligator has bounced back from near extinction to being relatively commonplace. An abundance of snake species make their home in Louisiana, including the eastern diamondback rattlesnake, Texas coral snake, eastern yellowbelly racer, mud snake, western pigmy rattlesnake, northern scarlet snake, rainbow snake, buttermilk racer, tan racer, western cottonmouth, red cornsnake, pit vipers and kingsnake. America's largest freshwater turtle, the alligator snapping turtle, shares the habitat with its cousin, the"
"grama (""Bouteloua gracilis"") and buffalo grass (""Bouteloua dactyloides""). These grasses have deep and dense root structure and retain large amounts of water, making them well suited for dramatic environmental fluctuations. Volatility, not equilibrium, defined the natural environment of the Great Bison Belt. The bison is the largest land animal in North America. It can weigh up to a ton, and once inhabited the entire length of the Great Bison Belt. English settlers saw bison for the first time by the Potomac River. At their peak, between thirty and forty million bison roamed the Great Bison Belt. Bison are excellent thermo-regulators,"
"bear native to South America and is the largest land carnivoran on that part of the continent, although as little as 5% of its diet is composed of meat. South America's largest obligate carnivorous mammal is the jaguar (""Panthera onca""). Among South America's extant, native land animals, only the Baird's tapir (""Tapirus bairdii""), South American tapir (""T. terrestris"") and mountain tapir (""T. pinchaque"") are heavier than this species. The spectacled bear is a mid-sized species of bear. Overall, its fur is blackish in color, though bears may vary from jet black to dark brown and to even a reddish hue."
"the park which have not mated in years. Scientists attribute the loss in the park's population to the loss of nests and nesting sites because of spring flooding caused by climate change. Trumpeter swan The trumpeter swan (""Cygnus buccinator"") is a species of swan found in North America. The heaviest living bird native to North America, it is also the largest extant species of waterfowl with a wingspan that may exceed . It is the American counterpart and a close relative of the whooper swan (""Cygnus cygnus"") of Eurasia, and even has been considered the same species by some authorities."
"Conservancy has purchase 43,000 acres of the last remaining habitat of the Bolson Tortoise ""(Gopherus flavomarginatus)"", in the state of Durango, Mexico. The largest of the North American terrestrial reptiles, this tortoise has been known to science only since 1959. The Bolson Tortoise inhabits a small area of Bolsón de Mapimí in the Chihuahuan Desert of Mexico. The Mapimí Biosphere Reserve was created to protect this species, but much of this land is used for agricultural development and cattle grazing, which is threatening the tortoise’s habitat. The acquisition of this land in north central Mexico will protect the tortoise along"
"Trumpeter swan The trumpeter swan (""Cygnus buccinator"") is a species of swan found in North America. The heaviest living bird native to North America, it is also the largest extant species of waterfowl with a wingspan that may exceed . It is the American counterpart and a close relative of the whooper swan (""Cygnus cygnus"") of Eurasia, and even has been considered the same species by some authorities. By 1933, fewer than 70 wild trumpeters were known to exist, and extinction seemed imminent, until aerial surveys discovered a Pacific population of several thousand trumpeters around Alaska's Copper River. Careful reintroductions"
"of North America. Among the most recognizable Eurasian species are the woolly mammoth, steppe mammoth, straight-tusked elephant, aurochs, steppe bison, cave lion, cave bear, cave hyena, ""Homotherium"", Irish elk, giant polar bears, woolly rhinoceros, Merck's rhinoceros, narrow-nosed rhinoceros, and ""Elasmotherium"". In contrast, today the largest European land mammal is the European bison or wisent. Many islands had a unique megafauna that became extinct upon the arrival of humans more recently (over the last few millennia and continuing into recent centuries). These included dwarf woolly mammoths on Wrangel Island, St. Paul Island and the Channel Islands of California; giant bird forms"
"a program to reintroduce the wood bison back into Alaska after a 100-year absence. The wood bison is the largest land mammal in North America, and is a keystone grazing herbivore from the region. The first release date is scheduled for 2011. This project is a joint effort with the Alaska Department of Fish & Game and other conservation groups. In 2008, the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center embarked on plans to develop an Alaskan bear conservation science and education facility and interpretive center. The B.E.A.R.S. (Bear Education Awareness Research Sanctuary) exhibit, will be ""green"" facility that will include habitat enhancements"
"protected, they are considered a game animal. Fox squirrels were an important source of meat for European settlers in the 17th and 18th centuries. They are still hunted over most of their range. Fox squirrel The fox squirrel (""Sciurus niger""), also known as the eastern fox squirrel or Bryant's fox squirrel, is the largest species of tree squirrel native to North America. Despite the differences in size and coloration, they are sometimes mistaken for American red squirrels or eastern gray squirrels in areas where the species co-exist. The squirrel's total body length measures , tail length is , and they"
"comparison, the giraffe, the tallest of all living land animals, is only 4.8 to 5.5 metres (16 to 18 ft) tall. The best evidence indicates that the most massive were ""Argentinosaurus"" (120 metric tons), ""Puertasaurus"" (80 to 100 metric tons ), ""Alamosaurus"", ""Paralititan"", ""Antarctosaurus"" (69 metric tons). There was poor (and now missing) evidence that so-called ""Bruhathkayosaurus"", might have weighed over 175 metric tons but this has been questioned. The weight of ""Amphicoelias fragillimus"" was estimated at 122.4 metric tons but 2015 research argued that these estimates may have been highly exaggerated. The largest land animal alive today, the Savannah"
"Rabbits are common in the South; the eastern cottontail is found throughout the region, while the desert cottontail and black-tailed jackrabbit is primarily found in Texas, Oklahoma and Nebraska. The swamp rabbit is found in wetlands of states like Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana and Arkansas. Tens of thousands desert bighorn sheep live in the southwestern U.S. The North American jaguar - lives in Arizona, Texas, New Mexico. In the American prairie in the Central United States lives mostly animals adapted for living in grasslands. Indigenous mammals include the American bison, eastern cottontail, black-tailed jackrabbit, plains coyote, black-tailed prairie dog, muskrat, opossum,"
"fence lizard is also endemic to the Channel Islands. Other animals in the park include island scrub jay, harbor seal, California sea lion, island fox, spotted skunk, island night lizard, barn owl, American kestrel, horned lark and meadowlark and California brown pelican. One hundred and forty-five of these species are unique to the islands and found nowhere else in the world. Marine life ranges from microscopic plankton to the endangered blue whale, the largest animal on earth. Archeological and cultural resources span a period of more than 10,000 years. The average annual visitation to the park's mainland visitor center was"
"in 1982, multiple establishments in Japan that raise capybaras have adopted the practice of having them relax in onsen during the winter. Capybara The capybara (""Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris"") is a mammal native to South America. It is the largest living rodent in the world. Also called chigüire, chigüiro (in Venezuela) and carpincho, it is a member of the genus ""Hydrochoerus"", of which the only other extant member is the lesser capybara (""Hydrochoerus isthmius""). Its close relatives include guinea pigs and rock cavies, and it is more distantly related to the agouti, the chinchilla, and the coypu. The capybara inhabits savannas and"
"the base. Gaurs are among the largest living land animals. Only elephants, rhinos, the hippopotamus (""Hippopotamus amphibius"") and the giraffe (""Giraffa camelopardalis"") consistently grow heavier. Two species that naturally co-exist with the gaur are heavier: the Asian elephant (""Elephas maximus"") and Indian rhinoceros (""Rhinoceros unicornis""). By most standards of measurements, gaur is the largest wild bovid alive today. However, the shorter-legged, bulkier wild water buffalo (""Bubalus arnee"") is similar in average body mass, if not maximum weight. Gaur historically occurred throughout mainland South and Southeast Asia, including Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Peninsular Malaysia, Myanmar, India, Bangladesh, Bhutan, China and Nepal."
"of New Mexico. Greater roadrunner The greater roadrunner (""Geococcyx californianus"") is a long-legged bird in the cuckoo family, Cuculidae, from Southwestern United States and Mexico. The Latin name means ""Californian earth-cuckoo"". Along with the lesser roadrunner, it is one of two species in the roadrunner genus ""Geococcyx"". This roadrunner is also known as the chaparral cock, ground cuckoo, and snake killer. The roadrunner is about long, has a wingspan and weighs . It stands around tall and is the largest cuckoo of the Americas. Roadrunners have four toes on each zygodactyl foot; two face forward, and two face backward. The"
"Cougar The cougar (""Puma concolor""), also commonly known as the puma, mountain lion, panther or catamount, is a large felid of the subfamily Felinae native to the Americas. Its range, from the Canadian Yukon to the southern Andes of South America, is the widest of any large wild terrestrial mammal in the Western Hemisphere. An adaptable, generalist species, the cougar is found in most American habitat types. It is the biggest cat in North America, and the second-heaviest cat in the New World after the jaguar. Secretive and largely solitary by nature, the cougar is properly considered both nocturnal and"
"includes some of the most unusual creatures to inhabit North America – animals such as:""Geochelone"", a giant bathtub-sized tortoise; ""Aiolornis incredibilis"", the largest flying bird of the Northern Hemisphere, with 17-ft (5.2-m) wing span; ""Paramylodon"", ""Megalonyx"" and ""Nothrotheriops"", giant ground sloths, some with bony armor within their skin; ""Pewelagus"", a very small rabbit (paleontologists can name with a sense of humor); ""Borophagus"", a hyena-like dog; ""Acrtodus"", a giant short-faced bear; ""Smilodon"", a saber-toothed cat; ""Miracinonyx"", the North American cheetah; ""Mammuthus imperator"", the largest known mammoth; ""Tapirus"", an extinct tapir; ""Equus enormis"" and ""Equus scotti"", two species of extinct Pleistocene horses;"
"alligator, takin, Mandarin duck. Polar bears. Bobcat, cougar, copperhead, milk snake, garter snake, desert tortoise, alligator, bison , black-tailed prairie dog, California sea lion, Mexican wolf, bald eagle, great horned owl, roadrunner, axolotl, golden eagle, turkey vulture, tiger salamander. Caribbean flamingo, scarlet ibis, golden lion tamarin, spider monkey, howler monkey, Cuban amazon, hyacinth macaw, scarlet macaw, golden-collared macaw, Andean tinamou, vine snake, blue poison dart frog, green anaconda, angelfish, toco toucan, sunbittern, red-bellied piranha, emerald tree boa, tree boa, boa constrictor, dwarf caiman, jaguar, ocelot, two-toed sloth, military macaw, Andean condor, caracara, thick-billed parrot, hawk-headed parrot, cotton-top tamarin, sun conure."
"appropriate forensic knowledge. Cougar The cougar (""Puma concolor""), also commonly known as the puma, mountain lion, panther or catamount, is a large felid of the subfamily Felinae native to the Americas. Its range, from the Canadian Yukon to the southern Andes of South America, is the widest of any large wild terrestrial mammal in the Western Hemisphere. An adaptable, generalist species, the cougar is found in most American habitat types. It is the biggest cat in North America, and the second-heaviest cat in the New World after the jaguar. Secretive and largely solitary by nature, the cougar is properly considered"
"regarded as a medium-sized ""Megatherium"" species, larger than ""M. altiplanicum"", but smaller than ""M. americanum"". It roamed from the Tarija Basin in Bolivia to Yantac in Peru. Species of ""Megatherium"" became larger over time, with the largest species, ""M. americanum"" of the Late Pleistocene, reaching the size of an African elephant. ""Megatherium"" is one of the largest land mammals known to have existed, weighing up to 4 tonnes and measuring up to in length from head to tail. It is the largest-known ground sloth, as big as modern elephants, and would have only been exceeded in its time by a"
"namadicus"" may have been the largest land mammal ever, based on extensive research of fragmentary leg bone fossils from one individual, with a maximum estimated size of 22 tonnes. The Permian era ""Cotylorhynchus"", from what is now the southern United States, probably was the largest of all synapsids (most of which became extinct 250 million years ago), at and 2 tonnes. The largest carnivorous synapsid was ""Anteosaurus"" from what is now South Africa during Middle Permian era. ""Anteosaurus"" was long, and weighed about . The largest living reptile, a representative of the order Crocodilia, is the saltwater crocodile (""Crocodylus porosus"")"
"muskrat is found throughout the Central U.S., excluding Texas, while the American beaver is found in every central state. Maybe the most iconic animal of the American prairie, the American buffalo, once roamed throughout the central plains. Bison once covered the Great Plains and were critically important to Native-American societies in the Central U.S. They became nearly extinct in the 19th century, but have made a recent resurgence in the Great Plains. Today, bison numbers have rebounded to about 200,000, which live on preserves and ranches. Some of the species that occupy every central state include the red fox, bobcat,"
"baseline the normal physiologic values of the species, identifying potential future problems due to parasites, diseases, etc. which might threaten the population. The US captive population doubled in size in August 2006 with the hatching of 22 Jamaican rock iguanas at the Indianapolis Zoo. This was the first successful captive breeding and hatching outside of Jamaica. Jamaican iguana The Jamaican iguana (""Cyclura collei"") is a large species of lizard in the family Iguanidae. The species is endemic to Jamaica. It is the largest native land animal in Jamaica, and is critically endangered, even considered extinct between 1948 and 1990. Once"
"Giant eland The giant eland (""Taurotragus derbianus""), also known as the Lord Derby eland, is an open-forest and savanna antelope. A species of the family Bovidae and genus ""Taurotragus"", it was described in 1847 by John Edward Gray. The giant eland is the largest species of antelope, with a body length ranging from . There are two subspecies: ""T. d. derbianus"" and ""T. d. gigas"". The giant eland is an herbivore, eating grasses, foliage and branches. They usually form small herds consisting of 15–25 members, both males and females. Giant elands are not territorial, and have large home ranges. They"
"Hoary marmot The hoary marmot (""Marmota caligata"") is a species of marmot that inhabits the mountains of northwest North America. Hoary marmots live near the tree line on slopes with grasses and forbs to eat and rocky areas for cover. It is the largest North American ground squirrel and is often nicknamed ""the whistler"" for its high-pitched warning issued to alert other members of the colony to possible danger. The animals are sometimes called ""whistle pigs"". Whistler, British Columbia, originally ""London Mountain"" because of its heavy fogs and rain, was renamed after these animals to help make it more marketable"
"mascot stuck, perhaps because the team captain's nickname was Gator. The Gator Bowl is a college football game held in Jacksonville annually since 1946, with Gator Bowl Stadium hosting the event until the 1993 edition. The Gatornationals is a NHRA drag race held at the Gainesville Raceway in Gainesville since 1970. American alligator The American alligator (""Alligator mississippiensis""), sometimes referred to colloquially as a gator or common alligator, is a large crocodilian reptile endemic to the southeastern United States. It is one of two living species in the genus ""Alligator"" within the family Alligatoridae; it is larger than the other"
"American alligator The American alligator (""Alligator mississippiensis""), sometimes referred to colloquially as a gator or common alligator, is a large crocodilian reptile endemic to the southeastern United States. It is one of two living species in the genus ""Alligator"" within the family Alligatoridae; it is larger than the other extant alligator species, the Chinese alligator. Adult male American alligators measure in length, and can weigh up to . Females are smaller, measuring in length. The American alligator inhabits freshwater wetlands, such as marshes and cypress swamps from Texas to North Carolina. It is distinguished from the sympatric American crocodile by"
"the invasive Eurasian tamarisk, also known as saltcedar, threatens native plants by crowding, using most of the available water, and increasing soil salinity by exuding salt through its leaves. Some of the larger animals roaming the grasslands include pronghorns, black-tailed jackrabbits (hares), Gunnison's prairie dogs, coyotes, bobcats and foxes. Pronghorns, the fastest land animals in North America, are capable of sprints. They are the second fastest land animal on Earth. The blood vessels in the huge, thin-walled ears of the jackrabbits act as heat exchangers. These hares are known for their bursts of speed, long leaps, and zigzag routes, all"
"citing ""bypassed environmental laws, habitat destruction, and losses to conservation and scientific research"", in a report published in the scientific journal BioScience thousands of scientists ""expressed alarm"" over the expansion of the U.S.-Mexico border wall. The report has 16 co-authors and as of July 24, 2,700, signatures from almost 50 countries. Among the threatened species are the jaguar (the largest cat native to North America), the ocelot (30 pound cats that could be making a comeback), the Mexican wolf (the smallest gray wolf in North America), the Sonoran pronghorn (related to giraffes, they can run 60 mph and are North"