Taiga

The Taiga biome is a common cold biome. It has two base variants, along with two related biomes; snowy taigas and giant tree taigas.

Description
Taiga biomes are essentially a colder counterpart to the lush forest biomes. Only spruce trees may grow in taigas, compared to oak and birch trees in forests. Due to the structure of spruce trees, being more tall than wide, the foliage is somewhat less dense than in forests, but still dense enough to possibly get players lost. The terrain is flatter than in forests, though still slightly hilly. Wolves spawn in all taiga variants, and at slightly higher rates than in forests, making wolves generally more plentiful in taigas. Rabbits additionally spawn in taigas, though aren't often seen due to wolves chasing after them and killing them. Villages occasionally generate within the taiga are appropriately made of spruce wood. Due to the cooler climate, rainfall changes to snowfall at higher elevations within taigas; however, this rarely happens within the normal taiga, as the terrain is not usually steep enough to reach the snowfall line.

Like forests, taigas are one of the most preferred biomes to start out in. The abundance of wood, mild terrain and useful passive mobs make this biome easy to adapt to for beginners. Generated villages can also serve as a handy refuge and as a trading post should one be found. Taigas share the same dangers of forests, however; a player can get lost within the trees easily if they don't mark their trails, and the foliage can lead to obstructed vision, especially at night.

Update
Recently at Minecon Earth the community got to decide a biome to update and the Taiga biome was the most voted biome which will result in the addition of Foxes, Campfires and berries to the Taiga biome. As of right now we don't know if the Foxes will be hostile or friendly.

Variants
Taigas have two variations, for a total of three normal taiga biomes.

Taiga Hills
Taiga Hills, like all other hills biomes in the game, feature steeper terrain compared to the base taiga biome. The increased elevation makes snowfall more likely to appear within this variant, typically at the tops of trees or tall peaks. Villages do not generate in this biome, though wolves still spawn.

Taiga Mountains
The rare Taiga Mountains variant, known as Taiga M before 1.13, are much steeper than the taiga hills, with peaks frequently crossing the snowfall line. The steep terrain makes this a more difficult version of the regular taiga. Like the hills, villages will not generate here, though wolves may still spawn.