The Higgs Bison Discovered!!
Ancient DNA research has revealed that Ice Age cave artists recorded a previously unknown hybrid species of bison and cattle, the mystery species, known affectionately by the researchers as the Higgs Bison because of its elusive nature, which originated over 120,000 years ago.
Research has revealed that the mystery hybrid species eventually became the ancestor of the modern European bison, or wisent, which survives in protected reserves such as the forest between Poland and Belarus.
It is believed that it originated through the hybridisation of the extinct Aurochs (the ancestor of modern cattle) and the Ice Age Steppe Bison, which ranged across the cold grasslands from Europe to Mexico.
Radiocarbon dating showed that the mystery species dominated the European record for thousands of years at several points, but alternated over time with the Steppe bison, which had previously been considered the only bison species present in Late Ice Age Europe.
The cave paintings depict bison with either long horns and large forequarters (more like the American bison, which is descended from the Steppe bison) or with shorter horns and small humps, more similar to modern European bison.
More information: http://www.nature.com
Ancient DNA research has revealed that Ice Age cave artists recorded a previously unknown hybrid species of bison and cattle, the mystery species, known affectionately by the researchers as the Higgs Bison because of its elusive nature, which originated over 120,000 years ago.Research has revealed that the mystery hybrid species eventually became the ancestor of the modern European bison, or wisent, which survives in protected reserves such as the forest between Poland and Belarus.
It is believed that it originated through the hybridisation of the extinct Aurochs (the ancestor of modern cattle) and the Ice Age Steppe Bison, which ranged across the cold grasslands from Europe to Mexico.
Radiocarbon dating showed that the mystery species dominated the European record for thousands of years at several points, but alternated over time with the Steppe bison, which had previously been considered the only bison species present in Late Ice Age Europe.
The cave paintings depict bison with either long horns and large forequarters (more like the American bison, which is descended from the Steppe bison) or with shorter horns and small humps, more similar to modern European bison.
More information: http://www.nature.com
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