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.
1. The course of developmental changes through which an organism passes from its inception through the stage at which it reproduces. 2. A progression through a series of differing stages of development: the life cycle of a star. 3. The span of a product's existence from its initial development through the period of marketing and active use to eventual obsolescence.