Homo apsidaeoris (hoh-moh ap-se-dee-o-ris)
From Latin: Homo (noun); man
apsidaeoris (adjective); adaptation of apsidae, describing a creator of arcs, arcs as travelled by a planet or as in a segment of a circle,( or JF Beaulieu's bowl).
Definition:
1. skier
2. the species of bipedal primates, evolved from
Homo sapiens, that descends hills or mountainous terrain, covered with snow or ice, using sticks of wood attached to the feet, by means of smooth, arced turns.
Homo apsidaeoris is a species that is hypothesized to exist, distinct and apart from
Homo sapiens that ski.
Homo apsidaeoris can be both hunter and gatherer, willing to venture into the wilderness in search of in untracked snow, yet also willing to congregate where trails are cut, and even where artificial snow is produced. Individuals would likely be capable of breeding with
Homo sapiens. But, the modern criteria for speciation is whether or not a species is reproductively and genetically isolated, not whether or not it can only biologically breed amongst itself (ref.,
http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-42103058). Conditions exist for such isolation, with year-round communities of skiers at and around major resorts. Even if not residing in such communities and being geographically isolated,
Homo apsidaeoris could arise by being cognitively and affectively isolated. As for the latter, conditions are certainly ripe when highly attractive females demand that males be endowed with the necessary capabilities, as documented in Marcus Caston’s Return of the Turn Episode 2,
Claire Brown, “If you can't arc a turn, you’re not going to impress me"
Other evidence, both cognitive and affective, have been documented. For example, in Outside Magazine’s December 2017 issue,
https://www.outsideonline.com/2263506/dont-worry-about-it-and-youll-be-great-said-nobody, an interview with Eileen Shiffrin, regarding her daughter, Mikaela Shiffrin, goes like this,
One can read between the lines. Eileen Shiffrin is thinking, ‘faster? At skiing? What kind of skiing?’ Continuing her thoughts, ‘better athlete? oh, the reporter means skier. When did my daughter become a better skier than me?’ She is reacting as if she had been asked when her daughter became a better person. In this reading, one can sense that she and Mikaela neither feel nor believe they are engaged in a
Homo sapiens athletic endeavor; they are simply engaged in their natural activity, skiing. Put another way, if one were able to communicate with a pod of dolphins and ask, “When did Marcus, who air carves the highest and farthest, become a better athlete?”, they would all look at each other and wonder, ‘huh?’
It has been exceedingly difficult for this investigator to find sufficient numbers of volunteers for genetic studies in order to prove the hypothesis with hard data. However, there is still ample circumstantial evidence to believe that a new species may have arisen. Do you think
Homo apsidaeoris exists and the word deserve coining? Are you one of them? Me? Claire, if you are reading this, I can arc a turn.
Edit: added JF Beaulieu's bowl