Scientifically, the term buffalo is incorrect for the North American species; its proper Latin name is Bison bison. However, common usage has made the term buffalo an acceptable synonym for the American bison. (from The American Buffalo in Transition, by J. Albert Rorabacher.).
Life cycle. Life cycle, in biology, the series of changes that the members of a species undergo as they pass from the beginning of a given developmental stage to the inception of that same developmental stage in a subsequent generation.
Medical Definition of life span. 1  1: the duration of existence of an individual. 2  2: the average length of life of a kind of organism or of a material object especially in a particular environment or under specified circumstances.