What is the difference between a bison and wildebeest?

Answer 1

Both bison (Bison species) and wildebeest (Connochaetes species) are in the Bovidae, a family that includes other herbivores like cattle, sheep, goats, impala, kudu, eland, and many others. However, bison and wildebeest are not particularly closely related within the family. Bison are bovines (subfamily Bovinae, tribe Bovini), so their closest relatives are yak, cattle, and gaur, as well as the African and Indian buffaloes. In contrast, wildebeest are in the subfamily Alcelaphinae, so their closest relatives are hartebeest, topi, tsessebe, and bontebok.

Ecologically, however, bison and wildebeest are quite similar. European bison (B. bonasus) graze (feed on graminoids, or grasses, sedges, and rushes) a great deal, but they also browse (feed on forbs and shrubs). American wood bison (B. bison athabascae) graze more, but still browse. However, for American plains bison (B. bison bison), grazing comprises the vast bulk of their feeding. They still browse, but behavioral observations and plant identification from feces indicate that the vast majority of the plains bison diet consists of graminoids.

There are two species of wildbeest: South African black wildebeest (C. gnou) and East African blue wildebeest (C. taurinus). Like American plains bison, both wildebeest species occupy vast grasslands, and feed primarily on graminoids. Blue wildebeest in particular, the larger of the two Connochaetesspecies, also form large herds the way plains bison do. And like plains bison, they also emit frequent grunting sounds to communicate with other herd members. So, although plains bison are about three times larger than blue wildebeest (bulls weigh 1,800 lbs. vs. 600 lbs., respectively), they exhibit many ecological and behavioral similarities.

Thus, although blue wildebeest and plains bison are only distantly related, they exhibit parallel evolution, with both species having converged onto an open habitat niche, in which they feed primarily by grazing, and keep in frequent contact with their herd-mates by grunting. For these reasons, these two bovid species are similar, even though they are not closely related.