Show V 4 7 FAMILY TREE THEE first comprehensive study of 0 the great plains lineage is being made by university of nebraska state stale museum from its collection 0 of buffalo skeletal remains the large skull and horns horas foreground are years old and belong to the first type of 0 bison to roam the great plains area the skull at lett left is years old while the one at right is a 1000 year old buffalo nearly the same as the present type seen in parks and zoos dr C B schultz director of the museum is on the left with IV D frankforter Frankfort cr assistant curator of paleontology at right UY BY THE HORNS museum traces family tree of shaggy haired plains bison features LINCOLN NEB the family tree of the great plains bison is being given its first geologically scientific appraisal by the university of nebraska state museum research completed in the past eight years reveals that ancestors of the haired creatures which in the numbered millions and drew hunters from over the world to the plains of kansas and nebraska first came to north america about years ago that was when the second of the three big glaciers ot of the ice age was retreating from the northern great plains dr C B schultz museum director and W D frankforter assistant curator of paleontology of the museum report that their studies thus far indicate two unusual tendencies in evolution of the bison first the great granddaddy of 0 them all who came to this continent from asia was characterized mainly by huge horns which averaged 80 inches from tip to tip but the body of this creature known scientifically as super bison was less than a foot taller and a foot longer than the present buffalo succeeding generations showed 0 only one significant change size of the horns they steadily shrank to average of 22 inches from tip to tip the body remained nearly the same second the bison unlike other prehistoric animals found in north america such as elephants rhinos horses and camels first appeared on our continent as a large animal and decreased in size the university of nebraska scientists also believe on the basis of present studies that the bison pop population has had its ups and downs the first bison they say apparently was relatively few in numbers since only a few scattered skeletal remains have been found thus tar far in kansas and nebraska but they increased in numbers rapidly as the climate began warming up and more food was made available to the growing herds but about years ago a human civilization apparently a race of hunters migrated from asia to this continent and the numbers of bison were greatly reduced these tribes however suddenly disappeared from the great plains for reasons which are still a mystery to scientists after their disappearance however bison herds staged a cwi eback the herds gained steadily in size even after appearance of the early indians in the great plains region but with the coming of the white man the bison all but disappeared from the continent the research work now under way at university of nebraska is expected to take at least five more years to complete |