Higgs bison
English
Etymology
Blend of Higgs boson + bison. From being elusive, not being found after a long search, akin to how the Higgs boson proved elusive to find, taking a very long search. Higgs was chosen due to the similarity between boson and bison, and its characteristic mysteriousness, due to not being found.[1][2]
Noun
Higgs bison (plural Higgs bisons)
- (informal, paleontology, biology, bovines) 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).
References
- Sarah Kaplan (18 October 2016), “Higgs bison mystery solved with help of ancient cave paintings”, in Washington Post
- Higgs Bison Is The Missing Link In European Bison Ancestral Tree, written by Rebecca Hersher, NPR, 18 October 2016