Higgs bison
English
editAlternative forms
editEtymology
editBlend of Higgs boson + bison. From being elusive, not being found after a long search, akin to how the Higgs boson proved time-consuming to find. Higgs was chosen due to the similarity between boson and bison, and its characteristic mysteriousness, due to not being found.[1][2]
Noun
editHiggs bison (plural Higgs bison)
- (informal, paleontology, biology) The ancestor of the European bison (Bison bonasus), a species originating from the hybridization of the aurochs (Bos primigenius) and the steppe bison (Bison priscus).
- 2016 October 19, Robby Berman, “Scientists Identify the Elusive Higgs Bison”, in Big Think[1], archived from the original on 2022-10-05:
- Scientists believe the Higgs bison were offspring of steppe bison and aurochs, an extinct breed of cattle.
- 2016 October 19, Jason Daley, “Cave Paintings Help Unravel the Mystery of the ‘Higgs Bison’”, in Smithsonian Magazine[2]:
- But now, cave art and further DNA testing have finally unraveled the origins of Higgs Bison, which turns out to be a previously undescribed hybrid animal. The research appears in the journal Nature Communications.
- [2023, Christopher J. Preston, Tenacious Beasts: Wildlife Recoveries That Change How We Think about Animals, MIT Press, →ISBN, page 86:
- The discovery of a missing hybrid ancestor—nicknamed the Higgs-Bison after the Higgs-Boson, a particle posited by theoretical physicists before it was proven to exist—confirmed this cross-breeding had occurred.]